Pretty little liars-never ending lies
by Ole.we
Summary: Hanna and Emily are still single, while Aria hooked up with Ezra and Spencer with Toby. Flirting with her sister's boyfriends was only a short phase, Spencer was going through. Emily suffers because her parents seem not to accept her sexuality and Alison is dead. Everyone is thinking about her but nobody knows if he even knew her...
1. Twisted

The next day:

 **Hanna:**

When Hanna woke up she heard her mobile phone ringing next to her ear. Hanna shook her head and yawned. Who would want to talk to her such early in the morning? Her hand reached out of her blanket and tried to grab the phone without even watching it. This proved as not working which made Hanna stand up. She looked at the Display. Her mum. Not really. Hanna answered the phone.

"Hanna, darling. Did I wake you up?"

"No, you know. Like every day I'm going for a run early as fuck. But no problem, mum. So, what's the matter?

"I just wanted to tell you that Pam phoned me. She decided to visit Emily's dad for a while. What do you think about the idea of that Emily could stay with us?"

"Yeah, of course. Great idea. When will she arrive?"

"I will pick her up in about one hour, so fine. Would you make breakfast?"

"MUM. Okay, but don't expect it to be awesome. You know I'm probably even too bad at cooking to prepare breakfast."

"Just do it and thank you. Love you, Hanna."

"Love you too mum."

Hanna hung up and slipped into her warm and fluffy slippers. She was still wearing her pajamas. Kind of annoyed, Hanna went to her wardrobe and pulled out a tiny dress. Some years ago, I would have been ashamed just by thinking of wearing this, Hanna thought while she dressed up. As Hanna saw herself in the mirror, she refreshed her totally messy bun and chose open hair for today.

After having brushed her teeth, Hanna was in a rush because Em and her mum would arrive soon and expected a laid table. Pulling out the plates and cups, Hanna realized that the fridge was almost empty. It was always empty but usually Hanna didn't care. Apart from when she had to solve this problem on her own very early in the morning. Hanna stood in front of the fridge and thought about what to do. Because she didn't find another solution, she walked over to Spencer's and rang their doorbell. Spencer appeared after half a minute but not from inside as Hanna had her expected to. Spencer's voice came from Hanna' back. Hanna turned around and saw her friend wearing sports clothes. She had been for a run, what Hanna had joked about in front of her mother was visible what Spence truly did in the morning.

"Hey Han. What are you doing here?"

"I'm glad to see you too, Spence. But yeah… It's a little complicated. Em will stay with us for some time, because her mum visits her dad and she will arrive in the next fifteen minutes. My mum wanted me to prepare breakfast but our fridge is empty. Okay, there are a few meatballs but.."

"Okay, so you want to borrow food from my fridge because you are too lazy to go to the supermarket."

"Yeah, it sounds worse when you express it like this."

The two of them went into the house, where Spencer grabbed some rolls, eggs and marmalade. "What about butter?" Spencer asked and Hanna nodded her head. After a few minutes Hanna left the house and ran back to her own one with her arms full of food. She laid the table faster than ever before and even managed to boil the eggs.

As she had just finished and wanted to sit down for a moment, Emily and Ashley arrived. Emily brought her bag upstairs and then the girls had breakfast. Ashley couldn't stay because a client had a problem which needed to be solved directly. Hanna rolled her eyes, when her mum left again. All this exercise and then she just left.

Emily seemed to not be hungry because instead of eating she only starred at the roll on her plate. Wondering why her friend wasn't eating, Hanna asked:  
"Em, are you alright?"

"What?" Emily started.

"I asked if you are alright." Hanna repeated her question.

"I don't know. No, I'm not." Emily answered. She was downcast.

Hanna got closer to her. "Any problems with your mum? Is it because she didn't take you with her to your dad?"

"I told you about this thing. This gay-thing, right? So, I told my mum as well but she didn't react alike you. She said it was just a phase I'm currently going through and then today she stood downstairs with her luggage. My mum told me she would have to talk to dad face-to-face and the worst about it was that she couldn't watch straight into my eyes, Han. She doesn't accept it."

Hanna was speechless. She had expected that Pam wouldn't mind. This meant she had almost thrown Emily out.

"Emily, your mum will change her opinion on that, all sure. You are her daughter and she won't hate you for your sexuality. "

"Han, don't you get it? She didn't even watch me! I could have been anywhere, she wouldn't care. And you know what? The thing is: Unimportant how much I want to change this part of me, it won't! If I make out with guys, I will still be gay. My mum doesn't understand it. You should have seen her face's expression. She was disappointed at me and I can't do anything. Now, I'm a mess myself and I would have needed her support but she leaves. It's so easy for her to leave and let me sit here.

Her gay daughter. "

"Em.", Hanna interrupted her, "take a breath please. I should say that I understand you and know what to do now but the truth is, I don't. I have never been in such a situation. You're very upset, let us go for a walk and take me serious I'm not the nature guy but this might be a good idea."

Emily agreed although she still looked to the ground. Hanna took Emily with her and they went outside.

"We could pick Spencer up, although she has already been for a run. What about that? If you don't want to, it's okay."

"It's a good idea, Han. Why not?" Emily answered. Hanna was surprised of her reply but they went over to the Hasting's house. Mrs. Hastings opened the door.  
"Oh, girls. Nice to see you, I guess you want to meet Spencer. Come in."

Emily and Hanna entered, Spencer was sitting on the sofa reading a book. As she saw Hanna and Emily, Spencer stood up and having talked for a while, the three girls left the house. They strolled along the street. Spencer started a conversation:

"I heard you're staying at Hanna's house for some time, Em. That's great because we can do all our sleepovers there then. No, I'm just kidding."

Emily told Spencer the truth about why her mum wasn't at home and Spencer listened throughout her whole monologue. Spencer wasn't that compassionate but clever enough to see that Emily wasn't in a good mood.

As Emily finished, Spencer hugged her. "You know that we are always there for you, Em. You can talk to each of us and if there will be more problems with your mum in the future, you can stay with us. And please try to smile a little, we will make the best out of it."

"Thank you, Spence. You're so reliable." Emily replied. Suddenly Spencer stopped.

"Guys? Where are we?" she asked. Hanna and Emily turned around to her realizing that they had been so busy with talking that they got lost. "Shit." Hanna murmured. They stood anywhere in the woods surrounded by pretty much nothing. Hanna unlocked her phone.

"We are out of range." Hanna informed the girls. "Spence, haven't you been at the girl guides?" Emily asked but Spencer said:" I was six, Em and honestly I joined them only once."

"What are we going to do now?" Hanna wondered.

Spencer suggested to walk to a small house which she had spotted uphill.

Although Hanna didn't like the idea of climbing, none of them knew what to do instead. The hill proofed as steeper than it looked like. At first everything worked out well and soon they were half the way up.

Because she wasn't concentrated, Hanna made a wrong step. Her left foot slipped away and she fell. Spencer and Emily who were in front of her, managed to get back to Hanna. She lay on the ground, as the they reached her.

"Hanna." Screamed Spencer. "Are you hurt?"

Hanna sat up, she felt dizzy. "I'm not sure. My head hurts."

Spencer knelt next to her: "Can you stand up?" Hanna shrugged her shoulders. "I'll try."

Emily and Spencer helped her get up. "Ouch." Said Hanna grabbing her left ankle. "I must have twisted my ankle while slipping away. "  
"Let me see. It's very swollen and red but hopefully not broken. Try to put ballast on it." Emily detected. Spencer let go of her and Hanna tried to walk but directly stopped after one step. A tear ran down her cheeks. "I can't. It hurts too much." She whimpered.

"We will help you to walk and call for help when we are up there. I hope they have got a phone. Don't cry, Hanna. It's not far away anymore. Go for it."

The entire way up to the house, Hanna was crying, unable to walk on her own. Emily and Spencer sat her down on a bunch in front of the house. "I'll stay with Hanna. Ring the doorbell, Spence and ask if we can use their phone." Spencer nodded her head and Emily joined Hanna.

 **Spencer:**

Spencer went to the door and rang the doorbell-nobody opened. She pushed against the door and it immediately opened. "Hello?" Spencer shouted as she carefully walked in. She was surrounded by old woody furniture. She entered a room that she identified as the living room and spotted a phone on a table. Spencer grabbed it and dialed Aria's number. She didn't know why but it was the first one that came to her mind. After some seconds, Aria answered the phone.

"Why are you calling me? I don't want to waste my time by talking to a person like you." Aria was angry.

Spencer was surprised but said: "Aria, it's me. Spencer. Why are you shouting at me?"

"Spence, it's Noel Kahn's number on my display. What the hell are you doing at his house?"

"Not really, so I better hurry up. I have no time for any explanations now but you must pick us up. And please take a first aid kit with you, Hanna twisted her ankle."

"I'm coming, Spence. But please leave his house. The last time I talked to him was at a party where we had a huge argument. He is still pissed at us. I'll be there in some minutes, take care of you."

Aria hung up and Spencer wanted to leave the house as she suddenly heard a key in the back-door's lock. Noel.

She ran out of the house and slammed the door behind her. Inside she heard Noel's upset voice: „Who is that? Why are you breaking into my house? I will catch you, dude!" Spencer ran around the corner where Emily and Hanna where sitting. "Run." Spencer whispered.

"Are you kidding me?" Hanna asked but Spencer took Hanna with her and the three girls hid in a bush. "It's Noel's house and he doesn't seem to be happy. Aria will pick us up. Keep quiet." Spencer explained. Just then, Noel appeared in front of his house.

"Guys." Emily whispered. "Noel has got a gun in his hands and it doesn't seem as if he wouldn't use it." Now that Emily said it, Spencer also saw it. Noel held the gun in his both hands, able to shoot directly when necessary.

"What if Aria arrives now?" Emily asked. "She will be in huge trouble." Spencer answered. Fortunately, Noel was phoned by somebody which made him leave, the girls could hear him talking:  
"Yeah, all right. Well dude, I'm coming. I have some problems at my place but…

Okay, I know it must wait. I'll be at yours soon. Bye bro."

Noel looked around for one last time, then went to his car and left. "He didn't say bro, did he?" Emily giggled.

Hanna, who was leaning against a tree said in a monotone voice:" What is Aria doing? Does she even know we were accompanied by a weirdo and his gun?" Emily laughed.

"At least you're still joking, Hannah. So, you won't die in the next few hours. "

Spencer pointed to a road behind them: "Aria is finally there. "

 **Aria:**

Aria jumped out of her car and came over to the other girls. Emily and Spencer stood up.

"Hey guys. What happened, why are you at Noel's in the woods? I didn't know any of you was into hiking and stuff. Oh my god, Hanna. Your ankle doesn't look good at all. It's so swollen and additionally blue. I guess a doctor should have an eye on it but first we should get you to the car. You can't walk, can you?"

"No, I hardly can. It's pretty painful." Hanna answered.

"So, how are we doing this? Can one of you carry her? I mean I don't want her to hurt again." Spencer asked.

All of them looked at Emily. "Seriously? Just because I'm gay, doesn't mean I'm the man of us." Emily said smiling.

"No, of course not. But, Em, you are in the swim team, Aria is way too small and I'm weak." Spencer admitted. Therefor Emily knelt next to Hanna, she wrapped her arms around Emily's shoulders and Emily picked her up. She carried Hanna to Aria's car and sat her on one of the rear seats. "Thank you, Em." Hanna said grateful for not having to go for another walk.

On their way back to Hanna's, Spencer called Wren who agreed to coming over and taking a look on Hanna. As Aria drove in Hanna's entry, Wren was already there. He opened Hanna's door and this time it was him carrying her to the house, where he lay her down on her bed. Aria, Emily and Spencer followed the two of them upstairs to Hanna's room.

While examining her ankle, Wren asked: "How did this happen? It looks very bad."

"Oh, we have been on a hike and I slipped away and when I fell down, I twisted my ankle." Hanna explained her situation.

Wren laughed. "So, you are going on a hike in a white dress? At least you didn't wear heels."

"Actually" Spencer interrupted him. "She wore heels." Wren rolled his eyes and put his strict this-was-very-foolish look on.

"Does this hurt?" Wren asked during searching her ankle. Hanna shook her head. His hand changed its position. "And this?" This time, Hanna nodded her head, twisted in pain. She was visible trying to repress crying.

"Sorry, Hanna. But I need to know if you can walk. So that I can exclude a fracture. Would you please walk some steps?" Wren apologized.

Hanna was so done but forced herself to stand up. As she put ballast on her ankle, she couldn't hold the tears back ones again. She started to walk and stopped after three steps. "Wren, please. I can't walk anymore today. Can you help me?" Hanna asked forced. Wren was directly there and helped her to return to her bed. Hanna sat down relieved. Aria handled her a handkerchief and Hanna swiped her tears away.

"Your ankle is sprained in a very bad way, you have to take care of it in the next days, I will leave an analgesic here for you. If it gets much worse, please phone me and Hanna? You should sleep now because you seem to be really done. It would be better to put your leg up and could one of you girls get her some ice?" Wren finished and left the room.

Emily went to the kitchen and grabbed some ice which she put on Hanna's ankle. She sat down at her bed and covered her with the blanket. "Try to sleep, Hanna." Emily whispered, stroking her head. Almost not able to keep her eyes open, Hanna murmured:" Thank you for carrying me, Em. Thank you for everything. You were in such a bad mood and I made your day even worse. Sorry for that."  
"Oh Han. You didn't ruin anything. Let's talk tomorrow." When Emily lay down next to her, Hanna had already fallen asleep. Emily smiled and closed her eyes hoping that Hanna would have a calm night.

 **Spencer:**

Aria and Spencer stood downstairs in the Marin's kitchen together with Wren who was about to leave.

"Wren?" said Spencer keeping him back. "I just wanted to thank you for coming. It was very kind."

"No matter what, Spence. Call me, I mean why am I studying medicine if I don't want to use my knowledge? No problem, I was bored anyway. Good night then."

As Wren wanted to close the door behind him, Aria shouted: "We owe you a favor, Wren." He smiled and the door snapped shut.

Spencer poured some water in a glass and drank it slowly, Aria watched her. "Spence? This might be tactless or maybe I'm mistaken but is it possible that he still has a crush on you?"

Spencer remained silent for a couple of seconds. Then she said: "Yes, honestly I am of the same opinion. He looks at me in this weird way and everything."

"What about you?" Aria asked. "No, actually I don't have a crush on him. He is hot and funny and compassionate and reliable but I want him to only be my friend. I kissed him, I know, but it didn't feel right or long lasting. "Spencer said and had the last sip of her water.

Aria and Spencer decided to go home because it already was very late and they didn't want their parents to worry.

When they stood in front of the house, Aria got on her car and drove away. Spencer walked by feet which wasn't a problem because she lived in the neighborhood.

Spencer just wanted to enter her house, as her mobile phone rang. _Beep, Beep_. She switched it on- a message. No. Spencer was afraid to open it although she knew who it was from. No, she didn't but she knew which letter would be given as the sender. A. A single A. And she had seen this letter way too often in the past time- the time after Ali's body was found. Spencer shook instinctive when she thought of the funeral.

She didn't want to think of this day or be remembered. But she still opened the message and her fear proved as right.

 **Hope your break-in wasn't recorded. Otherwise Hanna's mum will have to fuck you out of your problems, bitches. -A**

Spencer turned her phone off and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and entered her house. What Spencer hated most about A was that she always hit the currently weakest. Somehow, she also admired how somebody could control lives by such a complex system of always being informed. She sneaked upstairs to not wake anybody up but Melissa already stood in front of her as she reached the bathroom.

"I know Wren's aftershave exactly, Spence. Hope you two had fun." Melissa whispered.

"How can somebody waste his whole time being jealous? You know what, I don't owe you any explanations. But we had to call Wren because Hanna had an accident and it was too late to drive her to the hospital. Now you can go back to sleep or do you want a report of my daily activities? And no, during examining Hanna, Wren and I didn't make out." Spencer hissed.

"Oh sorry. You needn't freak out. How is Hanna doing?" Melissa answered but Spencer turned around and said: "Don't try to seem caring. I know you're not." She lay down on her bed and didn't even take her clothes off. Melissa always managed to let her loose her cool. The last thing that got to her mind before Spencer fell asleep was: What about her did Wren find so likely?


	2. Hidden hero?

Aria:

Aria reached her family's house after only a couple of minutes. She pulled her car key out of the ignition lock and walked over to the door as a message popped on her display. Unknown sender. Aria opened it and what she got to read was:

 **ThAnk you for picking up. Maybe there were more thAn four people in your cAr?** Aria could feel her breath getting faster, she slowly turned around to her car and got closer again. She was almost afraid to open the trunk. No, rather of what she would get to see. Her hands were cold when she dialed Spencer's number.

"Spence? Sorry for disturbing you."

"Oh, Ari. I have already been asleep. What's the matter?"

"I." Aria's voice broke. "I got a message. It said: Thank you for picking up. Maybe there were more than four people in your car? What if A still is in my trunk? I mean, at Hanna's I locked my car directly and nobody could have left it without being seen by either us or Wren."

"Take a breath, Aria. You needn't be such upset. Probably A is only playing with you. It's the way her game works. She manipulates you."

"She?"

"I don't know. Maybe also he but in my imagination, it was always more girly to do this kind of...?"

"Yeah, you're right. Now. Should I look? "

"Better if you do so. But please pay attention. I don't think A is truly in your trunk, not anymore at least. Maybe it's a trap and you know? Just be careful."

"Okay but promise me to not hang up."

"I promise."

Aria slowly sneaked to her car, unlocking it with her remote control _. Click, Click._

"Spencer? I can't."

"I know you can, Aria. We have been through so much, you can do this."

She made one last tiny step and could then feel the cold metal of her trunk on her skin. She pushed. As the trunk opened, a doll jumped out of the car. It was attached with a spring and kept moving up and down.

Aria leaked a scream. She shrank back from theawful sight.

"Aria? Aria? Are you okay?"

"I guess, I'm. There is a doll in my trunk, it's moving up and down. I got shocked, sorry for frightening you, Spence."

"A doll? Oh my god, this is scary. Just leave it there, you needn't touch it or anything. We can remove it tomorrow."

"OH. There is a piece of paper stuck in the doll's forehead."

"But how?"

"With a knife. I don't even want to know what it says. Wait, I have to get closer."

"Read it out loud, please."

" **Hunt is opened and I'm hunting. You could all be next. -A** Spencer?"

"What?"

"This doll. It… It looks exactly like Alison. It's got this yellow top, blonde hair and her lipstick. Does this mean A killed Ali? She didn't have any signs of a knife-attack, did she?"

"No, she didn't. But Aria, we are talking about A. And we know what she can do. Hopefully she wasn't involved. We would have to take a look on her post-mortem examination report to be sure."

"What if A rewrote it? To be one hundred percent sure we would have to check her."

"Her?"

"Her corpse."

"I don't think any of us can do this."

"Whatever. We must end this conversation because I'm still standing next to my car which was touched by A. Furthermore, it's getting cold here, at least it's already past midnight."

"Yeah, you're right. I'll hang up, when you're inside. I want to make sure you're okay."

"Thanks Spence. I'm inside our house now. Sleep well and sorry again:"

"No problem. Try to sleep too. See you at school"

Aria hung up. Only now, as she was standing in the warm living room, Aria realized how cold she was. She went upstairs, passed Mike's room and went to her own. She directly lay down on her bed and covered herself with the blanket. Although Aria was really tired and would definitely bear some sleep, she couldn't get the picture of the doll in her trunk out of her mind. Fortunately, Aria fell asleep after some time.

The next day at school:

 **Emily:**

Emily's way to school had been exhausting, not to mention the last night's after-effects. Hanna was doing better but still hardly able to walk on her own. Therefor Emily had to help her get to school. The walk would have usually taken about 5 minutes but today it took them almost ten times as much. It wasn't Hanna's fault at all but Emily would have loved to sleep instead of walking here in such a long time.

As they had finally reached their classroom, Spencer and Aria were already there. Luckily, Hanna and Emily managed to get in before Mr. Fitz, their English teacher arrived. Emily accompanied Hanna to her chair and then sat down on hers.

Mr. Fitz directly went over to talking about their currently lecture which Emily found as interesting as the dust on the floor. Not at all. The fact that she had slept less than an hour, neither improved her mood, nor her ability to keep awake. Hanna had slept like a baby which she was happy about. Emily couldn't because she kept thinking about her mum the whole night. Then there was this message from A and suddenly it was morning.

Mr. Fitz wrote anything on the board which meant he turned away from the class. Emily used this possibility to lay down on her table and close her eyes for a moment. Unfortunately, Mr. Fitz turned around faster than she had expected him to.

"Emily. Has my voice a soporific effect or what are you doing there?" he said. Emily startled and answered instinctively: "Yes."

Mr. Fitz smiled and the entire class laughed. Emily was confused but too tired to even care. She just kept sitting at her chair and spent the rest of the lesson, concentrating on not closing her eyes. Emily stood up as the doorbell released her. She wanted to leave the room but Mr. Fitz held her back.

"Emily? Can I talk to you?"

Emily stopped and turned around to her teacher. Now he wasn't smiling anymore.

"Do I have to worry about you? You seem to be very tired and have big eye shadows. Is everything okay?"

She didn't know what to answer. Of course, it wasn't. Nothing was okay, her entire life was a mess but she didn't want to talk about this topic with her English teacher, so she rather lied:

"Yes, of course. Everything is fine. Sorry for passing out but I learned for a math class test till the middle of the night."

Mr. Fitz had this look on his face which let her think he knew it. He knew that it wasn't the truth. Emily wasn't good at hiding her emotions. Because he didn't know, what to say instead, he only answered: "Okay. But Emily, if you want to, you can contact me. No matter what time."

"I don't think, I will. But thank you nevertheless."

Emily left the room. Aria, Hanna and Spencer were waiting in front of it. It was visible that they had eavesdropped. Spencer looked at Emily punitive: "Why didn't you tell him?"

"Tell him what, Spencer? That I'm gay, my mum threw me out and went to my dad who I haven't seen for almost one year? Tell him, that I haven't slept the whole night and a freak sends us text messages? It's true, I haven't slept at all.

And it wasn't the first time because I can't sleep since the day Ali disappeared. Sometimes I wake up steamed in the middle of the night because I have nightmares. I miss her, okay? I really miss Alison! And I know none of you does. In secret none of you could stand her, couldn't you?

He is my fucking English teacher and if I would tell him a fraction of what is going on in my life, I would sooner or later wake up in Radley!" Emily shouted at her friends. It was the second time in only a couple of days, she freaked out in front of them. Usually, she never did.

The girls stared at her shocked, speechless. "What? You don't know what to say? You don't because it's true and you all know it." Emily continued.

"Emily." Spencer interrupted her. "We just don't know what to say because we never heard someone saying it this way. You never said something like that and I didn't know you even thought it. You were so upset in the past time, try to calm down."

"Maybe, Spencer, I'm not the calm girl anymore and you know what? This needed to be said because what we usually do is remain silent. And just because you always remain silent, doesn't mean the things didn't happen. I don't want to act as if I was the perfect, happy girl anymore. Because I'm not and none of you is. We never tell the truth and lie about everything, even to persons we care about and the truth is: I'm done, so done."

"We all are, Em. It's because A threatens us alike, it's okay to not be okay. This isn't you and none of the things that are happening is your fault." Aria mentioned.

"Aria. There's so much wrong about it. Don't you realize it? It is our fault, what's happening. We ruined a girl's life and took her ability to see, we lie and it is our decision to do so. A is a bitch and I know it, but she is right and maybe we deserve it!" Emily shouted, turned around and ran away.

Out of the school building, along the street, anywhere, just not closer to her home. She didn't even know if it was still her home. In her back, she heard her friend's voices asking her to stop, to come back. Emily didn't stop or come back, she continued running.

Why should she come back? She had enough of all of it- her friends that maybe weren't her friends anymore, her mother and this whole damn town full of ugly secrets, nobody wanted to uncover. Everybody in here wanted to keep up his perfection, even though nothing was perfect anymore. Emily just couldn't walk among Jenna's house every day, knowing that it was her fault. She could have stopped Alison.

Every time Jenna passed her with this stick she used to walk, Emily felt the unstoppable need of apologizing- but she couldn't. She couldn't because they had let it seem as if Jenna's step brother Toby, would have been responsible for this accident. He had been arrested and that was another moment, Emily couldn't get rid of. The incredible disappointed look in his eyes when the detective led him to his car. Thinking of all these things she would rather never think about again, Emily felt as if she had to throw up. She stopped and could hardly breath. Furthermore, she felt sick, maybe it was only her bad guilty conscience that made her feel this way.

Disoriented she knelt down. Everything around her was spinning but her mind was clear. Emily was so angry about herself and what she had done. All the frustration of the past months and all the pain broke out of her. She felt her eyes getting wet but didn't want to cry. Not now. She didn't want to feel even weaker, even more helpless and lost.

She would rather feel nothing, no guilt, pain and sadness. Deep inside, Emily knew that she shouldn't have shouted at her friends. At least they were the only few persons that had been with her. The only ones that had accepted her and endured her outbursts of emotions. Emily leaned against a tree behind her and closed her eyes. She didn't want to feel anything right now, nothing. But she could neither suppress her tears nor her feelings and therefor Emily let them run down her cheeks. Why hadn't she talked to them calm? Maybe because this was the only way they took her serious. Emily knew that each of them had thought about the Jenna-thing in the past few month and she also knew that they all felt guilty.

After Alison disappeared, the four girls drifted away from each other. Not long time ago, all they said was a _hello_ whenever they met in the school's corridor's. They were friendly, but no friends.

Emily had never told them but she often sat in front of her mobile phone, trying to dial one of their numbers. But in the end, she didn't. Not even once. Emily didn't know why, maybe because she was too proud to make the first step or because she didn't know what to say. Today was the first time, she talked about her feeling and thoughts. No, she didn't talk about them. She shouted her opinion right into her friend's faces. It would be no surprise, if Mr. Fitz had heard every single word of their conversation or rather argument. What if he had? Emily was sure he had at least understood some parts. If so, it was her fault and she would have to straighten it. Her fault ones again, she never seemed to think about her action's effects. Emily sighed.

She thought after opening her mind to the girls, she would feel relieved but she didn't. Anyway, her situation had become even worse: She was still gay, A still existed and additionally she was probably estranged with her three best friends. Not to mention that she was totally disoriented, felt dizzy and her thoughts made her want to puke.

Emily wasn't far away from despairing in a nervous breakdown but suddenly somebody touched her back. She turned around quickly and looked straight into a person's face she really didn't want to see today. No. The boy starring at her with his hand on her back was Toby. Toby Cavanaugh. Emily didn't try to swipe her tears away, knowing that she was puffy from crying.

She leaped up and wanted to leave but Toby stopped her: "Emily, what's wrong with you? Can…Can I help you?" he asked.

"No, no. I'm fine. I got to go." In this state, what she said wasn't convincing at all but Toby let go of her.

Emily wanted to leave which didn't prove as working because she wasn't doing well at all. Jumping up so fast, wasn't a good idea. Her head was spinning and she reached for her temples.

"Hey. What's the matter? Why are you staggering? You better sit down for a while before you go wherever." Toby suggested. Emily got weak and could feel her legs caving. When Toby saw that Emily was nearly fainting, he ran over to her and wrapped his arms around her wrist. She almost fell into them. Emily leaned on Toby and he helped her to slowly walk.

Toby sat her down on the bunch and there they sat:

The girl who had brought him to prison and the boy who had lost more than just lifetime in this night. Toby just kept sitting next to Emily, until he handled her a handkerchief. She grabbed it hesitating and swiped her tears away. None of them knew what to say, the last time, they had seen each other was more than one year ago. The difference was that there weren't any cops between them and Toby wasn't handcuffed.

Toby broke the silence because it was almost overwhelming: „Are you doing better?"

Emily wasn't sure about what to say but chose the truth. Toby was one of the persons, she owed it. "I don't know. I feel tired and still a little dizzy." Not knowing what to respond, Toby didn't say anything, so Emily did: "Why are you so friendly? I believe, I'm the last person that deserves your kindness. Toby looked over at her: „Honestly, you aren't. This person is dead." Emily started, she hadn't expected this answer.

"Did you run away from home?" Toby asked. Emily shook her head and said:

"I…I had an argument with my friends because I wanted to be honest just for one time. It didn't work out, I was way to honest. I hurt them with what I said. You know, I don't know what's wrong with me at the moment. My behavior is so weird. After I shouted at them, I completely freaked out and ran away. I was so angry and just ran and ran and ran. I ended up sitting at this tree, unable to breath. Then you suddenly appeared and I neither knew what to do nor to say, so I jumped up to run away because this is always the easiest solution. "

"At first, I thought you were drunk because you had obviously cried and then you were staggering, but you aren't, are you?"

"No, of course I'm not. I think, I jumped up too fast which made me feel dizzy. What you must have thought when you saw me alike." Emily tried to smile.

"Actually, I was worried because you were crying so badly and looked pale. When you staggered, I wasn't sure if I should touch you or not but I did, since I thought you would faint."

"Thank you for that. If you hadn't, I would have really fainted. At first my head was spinning and then everything went black. I lost my view and the next thing I remember is sitting on this bunch."

"Yes, you fell and leaned on me, so that you could walk to the bunch. You don't remember it?"

"No, I was nearly unconscious."

"Maybe you should call your friends. I don't want them to worry."

"Yes, you're right but I left my mobile phone at school."

"Oh, unfortunately I don't have any credit balance. So, you can't do anything with mine."

"I will just walk home. I'm currently staying at Hanna's, so the girls are probably there. Where are we anyway?"

"Close to my house. But Emily, I don't think you should walk home. Just wait here and I'll go and get my car. I can drive you home, I don't have anything to do."

"You needn't do this, I'm already much better. You did enough for me."

"Sure?"

"Yes, but thank you. Not only for the offer and Toby I know we owe you explanations but not today, okay?"

"Yes, of course. Try to stand up."

Emily stood up slowly, Toby kept his hand behind her back, able to catch her if necessary. But everything went well and therefor Emily returned to Hanna's.

As she stood in front of the house and wanted to press the bell, the door already opened. Hanna, Aria and Spencer starred at her.

"Hey Guys. Can I still come in?" Emily asked sheepish. "Of course, you can. Emily, we were super-worried. Are you okay?" Hanna answered.

Emily nodded her head and hugged her friends who kept holding her tightly. "I'm sorry for freaking out and running away. I'm stressed because of all this stuff with my mum." She tried to explain.

"You needn't apologize, Em. You were right, we always lie and we really didn't take much care of you because we were busy with other things. We weren't there for you, sorry." Aria admitted.

Everyone looked at Spencer. She smiled and said: "I'm not that compassionate sometimes but never say again that we deserve what A does. Nobody does." The girls could laugh again and then Emily told them everything about her weird meeting.

As she finished, the others couldn't believe it.

"He helped you?" Aria asked.

"Did he change?" Hanna wanted to know. "Both yes." Emily answered. "What about him?" Spencer continued. "He has got more muscles. I think for a dude he was really hot." Emily smiled.

"We judged him totally wrong." Spencer informed.

"Not only him." Aria finished.


	3. His name was Austen

**Aria:**

Aria and Spencer walked along the street, passing some shops. It was weekend and early in the morning they had met to go shopping. Spencer needed a dress because Melissa and their parents wanted her to have dinner with them this evening. Her father had chosen an expensive restaurant which made Spencer think that there was a certain reason for it.

"Maybe Melissa has a new boyfriend, what about that?" Aria asked.

"Probably you're right. Hopefully someone likely. Many of them were just unbearable."

"Yeah, Spence. But hopefully not as likely as Wren. I don't blame you for anything but seeing another boyfriend making out with her younger sister would definitely make Melissa freak out."

Spencer giggled without answering because she knew that Aria was right. Almost every breakout in Melissa's long past of boyfriends had been caused by her. Additionally, wasn't Melissa the kind of person, Spencer would like to be her enemy.

Suddenly Aria kept standing and pointed on a black dress. "Spencer, this one is just awesome. You must try it. Let's get in and have a closer look on it."

"Ari, I don't know. It's a little too much for a dinner with my parents, isn't it? "Spencer asked.

"You needn't always look like a younger version of your mother or Melissa. It's your decision what you want to wear." Aria convinced her and so the two of them entered the shop. Aria took the dress and sent Spencer to a cabin, where she tried it on. While Spencer was still inside the cabin, Aria stood in front of it. Not willing to wait anymore, she opened it a little to have a look on her friend.

 **Spencer:**

Spencer watched herself in the mirror. Of course, the dress was awesome but not on her. When Spencer was still starring at herself, Aria's head appeared in the cabin.  
"Ari, you can't just come in. What if I was naked?" Spencer whispered.

"As if I had never seen you naked, Spence. But this dress is just a dream, it looks incredible on you. We should buy it, what do you think?" Aria glanced at her.

"Honestly, I love the dress but not on me. It looks awkward." Spencer admitted.

"Crap. You look stunning. It's different to your usually sorry-I-have-been-learning-all-night-look. Melissa would be jealous if she saw you like this, which isn't really what we wanted to achieve. But no matter. Get this one." Aria explained to her.

"Okay, so get out here. I'll hurry up." Spencer said and Aria pulled her head back. She walked through the store, looking at the other available clothes. Totally her style but she hadn't much money left because she was looking for a job for weeks. She caught herself by thinking of what Hanna had done now. If she managed to do so, it couldn't be impossible difficult, could it? Luckily Spencer returned from the cabin, which stopped Aria from making wrong decisions.

"Hey, I guess, I take it. Maybe you're right with it, although your style is always extraordinary. So, I'll go and pay it. Just wait here." Aria nodded her head, during she was staring at a dress next to her. How likely would it be to have it? She touched the fabric which was awesome too. The dress was covered with paillettes which made its appearance elegant. Lost in her thought, Aria didn't realize that Spencer had already finished. "Ari?" Spencer asked carefully. "Oh yes, I'm coming." Aria responded and left the dress behind.

Some hours later:

Spencer sat in her dad's car who was driving and simultaneous talking to one of his colleagues on the cell phone. Without really caring, Spencer listened to the conversation which was obviously about money and profit. Like always. Spencer sighed, hoping that the evening wouldn't continue as boring as but actually knew what it would go like. As Peter Hastings drove into the parking lot, he ended the call and started talking to his daughter for the first time in more than half an hour.

"How is it doing at school, Spencer?"

"Oh. Everything well, I guess. No problems or anything."

"I'm glad to hear that. Did your mother tell you the reason for this dinner?"

"No, she didn't. I was just asked to come and so I did."

"Melissa met someone and we want to meet him too. His name is Austen. Good guy probably. He studies algebra at the Hollis university."

"Oh, great." Spencer said sarcastic but her dad just continued.

"I hope, I needn't repeat myself, Spencer. It's Melissa's boyfriend and we all want him to stay hers. Take me serious, you won't do anything else than being friendly to him as a friend. Do we understand each other?"

Spencer nodded her head, not willing to respond. Her dad acted as if she was a slut. As if she would see him and then directly make out.

The two of them left the car and went over to the restaurant. Melissa, her mother and a guy were sitting at a table in the restaurant's corner. Melissa waved discreetly as they got closer. Spencer sat down next to the guy who sat in front of Melissa.

"Good evening, everyone." Her dad said and sat down as well. Spencer looked at the guy, waiting for him saying anything and he did:  
"Oh, my name is Austen. Nice to meet you." "Spencer." She answered. The guy was hot, hotter than Spencer had expected him to be. Secretly she had hoped that he would be ugly, so that she wouldn't develop any interest in him. Nobody was talking, but the service soon came to their table to let them order their drinks. Everybody could drink wine, everybody within Spencer. If her parents wouldn't accompany her, there would be no problem with alcoholic drinks but this way she took a soda.

Melissa began to talk and spencer directly wished she would shut her mouth.  
"So, what about a little talking to get used to each other? Austen already knows me, so I needn't. But Spencer, wouldn't you like to start?" Actually, I don't, Spencer thought. But what she said was: "Yeah. I'm Spencer. Playing field hockey, discussion club, high school." That would have to be enough. Her parents continued talking about their work, how successful they were and about their incredible huge interest in algebra. Luckily the drinks arrived, so Spencer had something else to be busy with. She emptied the glass in almost five minutes, unable to stop looking at her clock. The time didn't seem to pass at all and because she couldn't keep sitting at this table together with her parents, Spencer apologized and went to the toilet. As she entered the room, Spencer took her mobile phone out. A message popped on her screen. Unknown sender, ones again. Since Spencer's evening was ruined anyway, she didn't hesitate to open it. **tAke him or I tAke her. -A**

Spencer took a deep breath. Her was clearly Melissa. Not wanting to return to the table, Spencer dialed Aria's number. _Beep, Beep, Beep._

 **Aria:**

Aria lay on her bed thinking about her secret kept relationship with Ezra. She had never been at his house and actually they hadn't seen each other much after he proved as her teacher. Of course, Aria knew that the law didn't define their behavior as right and she also knew that neither her's nor Ezra's parents would agree with it in any point. But it felt right, whenever she was alone with him. She wished they would be alone more often, without a desk and some students between them. Aria sighed. Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted by the annoying ringtone of her mobile phone. Why did she even have this one? Spencer's name showed on the screen, so Aria took the call.

"Hey, Spence. Thought you were having dinner with your parents. What's up?"

"Yes, I am. We were right, Melissa has a new boyfriend and then there was this message from A. Additionally I'm at the toilet."

"Spencer." Aria stopped her talking. "Could you please slow down and explain everything one after one? I have got time, you have got time. No reason to hurry up. Ones again."

"Okay. So, his name is Austen and yes, he is hot. But nothing, I should care about. The dinner was boring as always, therefor I left and went to the toilet where I still am. As I had reached it, I received a message."

"Oh no. A?"

"Right. Take him or I take her. Her is Melissa of course and him is Austen."

"Wait, do I get that right? A asked you to make out with Austen or anything bad will happen to Melissa?"

"Yes. It's a loose-loose-situation, isn't it?"

"It clearly is. What are you going to do, hook up with him or risk that she'll be hurt?"

"That was what I just wanted to ask you. What would you do if somebody threatened with hurting Mike?"

"Anything to keep him safe."

"No matter what you lose? I mean they will hate me for it. She will."

"I might be mistaken, but doesn't she hate you already?"

"Kind of. But I don't want to obey A. We always obey and you know it just remembers me of the way that Ali threatened us. I am so done with not making my own decisions."

"Spencer, I really understand you. None of us wants to but what if Melissa gets hurt? Do you want to risk this? I'm not sure if it's worth it. Melissa might be an asshole-she is still your sister. If something happens to her, you'll never forgive yourself. "

"It's not just that I don't want her to be angry. I really don't give a damn on Austen, he is hot and everything but totally not my case. Wren was different."

"Spence, this isn't about you. It's about Melissa."

"Aw. Aria I know. But I can't do this. I can't kiss him, what if he directly breaks up with her?"

"Take the risk. It isn't worth risking your sister's life because you decided to stop obeying."

"Okay. Aria?"

"Yeah, what?"

"I can't consider her eyes. I wish I could stay in this cabin forever."

"If spending a lifetime on a toilet, is what you really want…Go for it! But don't expect me to visit you at your place."

Spencer laughed.

"So, bye then. "

"Call me later and tell me how it worked out."

"I'll do."

 **Spencer:**

Spencer hung up, scrutinized herself in the mirror, took a breath and returned to their family's table. Her mum was surprised because she had stayed at the toilet such long but didn't leave any comment. While the others continued talking, Spencer made up a plan for hooking up with Austen. She knew she would have to turn him on. She let her feet glide over to his and slowly touched him without looking at his face. He must take her for being a slut. Spencer didn't know if she really wanted to do this but didn't figure out any other possibility.

Therefor she touched his feet again, carefully and slowly. Austen's expression let her know that he was aware of what was going on. She pulled her feet back and after only some seconds his feet started slighting over to hers. Spencer felt her toes itching and couldn't suppress a smile.

Melissa became absorbed in the conversation with her parents which made things for Spencer much easier. During Melissa explained the content of opportunity costs to her parents, Austen's feet shifted higher.

Spencer got closer to the table to let him know she was fine with it. Honestly, she wasn't at all and not even turned on a little. But if she didn't figure him as sexy, it would keep a one-night-stand and nothing more. Her parents seemed to get tired and decided to leave.

"Your dad has to be at work early the next day, so it's reasonable for us to leave." Mr. Hastings explained. Spencer knew that he hadn't any appointments tomorrow but Austen wasn't very talkative and additionally a boring person, her dad didn't know how to deal with.

Good if dad doesn't like him, Spencer thought. This was very rude because earlier this day she had really hoped that this relationship would be long lasting. It wouldn't be and the worst about it was, that she would be the reason. Ones again.

Spencer decided to leave too but wanted Austen to follow her. Her parents were already gone and she could lie about anything easier now. Not wanting to be seen by Melissa, she took a pen inconspicuous out of her hand bag and grabbed her serviette. Watching each of Melissa's movements carefully, Spencer wrote a message down:

 **Meet you in the back yard. Will be waiting. XOXO**

Spencer cleared her throat to draw Melissa's attention to herself: "I'm sorry but I will be leaving now. I'm not feeling well, probably a cold. So, wish you too a nice evening."

"Oh, it's such a pity. I really love your company. Get well soon." Melissa answered sarcastically. Usually, she would have responded something cheeky but not today. While standing up, Spencer left her serviette in Austen's hand. "We'll hopefully meet again." Spencer said to Austen and left:

Only as she was standing outside, she felt guilty for what she was doing. Melissa didn't deserve this. But it was already too late to back out, so Spencer moved on to the yard.

There she sat on a dirty wall, waiting for her sister's boyfriend. Every time she heard a sound, Spence turned around expecting to see Austen. As if the circumstances weren't already weird enough, all the street lights surrounding her turned off. Spencer sighed, what a crap. She took out her mobile phone to use its flashlight. Her display said eleven o'clock. After another fifteen minutes of sitting there, Spencer felt her body slowly starting to shiver from cold. To keep warm, she folded her arms cross under her breast.

When Spencer just thought about leaving, a shadow appeared at the other end of the backyard. Austen. Spencer stood up and walked closer to him.

"Spencer?"

She nodded her head although it was totally dark.

Spencer pulled him closer because all she wanted was this disaster to be over.

"We shouldn't do this, Spencer." Austen whispered as his mouth had almost reached her lips.

"We definitely shouldn't" she responded and pushed her lips on his. He isn't a bad kisser, she thought, while Spencer felt Austen's tongue getting into her mouth. Austen pressed her against the wall, Spencer had sat on top of some minutes ago. He kissed her again and again. As he stopped, Spencer couldn't catch her breath at first. She couldn't see his face but still knew that he was self-confident smiling. Spencer wasn't, she felt guilty and glad about the darkness around them.

"I have to leave." Spencer whispered, coming off from him. "Already?" he asked, knowing that she wasn't kidding. Spencer was clever enough, to lie so that them getting sexual active was the first and last time. "I have to tell you something which you have to keep secret. Deal?" she asked. He nodded his head. "You're very hot, Austen which is probably why I'm doing this. But this is very unusual for me."

"Same. I have never made out with one of my girlfriend's sisters ever before."

"No, you misunderstand me. I'm gay."

Austen took a deep breath. "You're joking. We just made out and you liked it, didn't you?"

"Not, that much. I wanted to be one-hundred percent sure, now I am. I'm gay and you're not my case. "

"Shit. Can we please forget about tonight? This never happened, right? Melissa will never get to know about us kissing. Promise me!"

"I do. Now, sorry again for using you." Spencer apologized and turned him her back. She left the yard as fast as she could and when she had, she phoned Hanna who was always up still late at night.

Hanna picked up the phone.

"Spencer?"

"Yes, it's me. You must come and pick me up, please, can you?"

"Wait, what? Where are you? It's past midnight and you think I'm playing your driver. Why don't you take a taxi? "

"Thank you for your loyalty, I'll then call somebody else. I have no money with me."

"No, don't hang up. I'm just kidding, I'm already in the car. Send me your location. I'll be there."

"You're an angel, Hanna."

"Oh, don't say that. It sounded different only a minute ago. Need to concentrate on driving now, bye."

"Bye." Spencer said turning her GPS on and sending it to Hanna.

 **Hanna:**

"What the hell is Spencer doing her in the middle of the night?" Hanna murmured, driving her car through the abandoned streets of Rosewood. Not a single pedestrian crossed her way during the entire drive. Hanna kept looking left and right, wanting to spot her brunette friend.

"Why does it have to be dark as fuck? Can't she wave or anything?" she continued murmuring annoyed of having to leave her couch as late. Finally, she spotted Spencer, sitting at a bus stop.

Hanna stopped, opened a window and leaned out: "Hey Spence. Are you willing to come or do you wanna camp here?" Spencer startled up and entered the car. She sat down next to Hanna who was busy with driving backwards. "Thank you so much, for picking me up, Han." Spencer said.

"No problem but we'll have to hurry up because otherwise I'm gonna miss more than one episode of Americas next top model. "

"Oh, yes. Drive fast then. That's important if you miss it, you'll have certainly problems with your life balance."

"Stop making jokes of me. Remember whose car you are sitting in and its owner doesn't have any problems with leaving you anywhere at the roadside. Just kidding."

"I know, Han. What is Emily doing?"

"Oh, she had swimming till late and went directly to bed afterwards, guess it was very exhausting. But let's talk about something else: What were you doing here alone?"

"That's complicated and if you wanna know the whole story, you'll miss your entire series."

"Just start. I'm curious. Maybe it's rather worth listening to it than watching TV."

"I got a message from A during the dinner with my parents, Melissa and her new boyfriend Austen. A forced me to either make out with Austen or risking that A will hurt Melissa. I phoned Aria and she said, she would definitely not risk anything when it comes to her brother."

"So, you made out with him?"

"Don't interrupt me. I turned him on while my parents were still there and left too after they had left. I said I wasn't doing well and when I passed his chair, I handled him a message that I had written on my serviette."

"Aw. This is more interesting than Americans next top model!"

"I asked him to come to the back yard, where I actually had to wait for almost an infinity. But then he arrived, it was dark and everything which made it much easier. So, he kissed me and I must admit he was fabulous. Having made out some minutes, I told him I had to leave."

"You kiss him and then just go?"

"I wanted to end it so that nothing serious would develop. I lied to him."

"What did you say?"

"Don't laugh but I said I was gay and had just used him to make sure I really was. And then I continued saying that making out with him showed that I was. I didn't feel anything. He promised not to tell Melissa I was gay and I promised not to tell her that we had hooked up."

"You're genius, Spencer. He will never tell her not knowing it's a lie and you won't have any further problems with none of both."

"Right. I have still got a bad guilty conscience."

"You needn't. This time you didn't do anything out of selfishness. By the way, what's his name?"

"Didn't I mention it? Austen."

"No, you didn't. Was he hot?"

"Hanna…Honestly yes, but not my case and additionally he studies algebra and the rest of his personality is boring too. No fun with him."

"Sounds like a male version of Melissa if you ask me. This means they fit to each other."

"Yes, they really do but what makes me worry is how easy it was to get him make out with me."

"A male Algebra-slut."

"Hanna!"

"What? It's true."

"Han? I'm kind of afraid."

"Of what? That he will not keep his promise?"

"No, I'm sure he will. But it's something else. What if A took a picture, I mean we're talking about somebody who has perfectioned his technique of manipulation. "

"You can be sure, A did. But the question is if it's worth worrying about something that hasn't happened yet?"

"Since when are you such clever?"

"Always been. Just good at hiding it because I love surprises."

"Was just a joke. Thank you for picking me up ones again and sorry for the trouble."

"Oh, Spencer. No problem. Sleep well."

"You too, see you tomorrow."

"Today, it's past midnight."

"Yes, right. So, see you today."

 **Spencer:**

Spencer waved one last time when Hanna drove away and then sneaked into the Hasting's house which worked out without being caught by anyone this time. Spencer stopped in front of Melissa's room, she could hear unambiguous sounds from inside. Spencer smiled relieved, this time everything seemed to have gone well.

 **Roses are red, violets are blue. I'm still here bitch and I saw you. -A** popped on Spencer's display but she had already fallen asleep and would spot it in some hours, when her mother awakens her for school.


	4. BreAk up

Several days later:

When Aria woke up, the first thing she heard was her mother's voice. Ella was obviously trying to whisper but shouted. Aria stood up and went downstairs still wearing her pajama. What was going on? Her parents never argued, which meant it was something serious. Aria stopped at the landing to listen to their argument.

"Why didn't you tell me? Did one of the kids know? Byron, I don't get why you did this. I trusted you!"

Aria had the funny feeling that this was about Meredith. The woman her dad had been unfaithful with. She got it by chance when she and Alison caught her dad and Meredith kissing in his car. He made her promise not to tell anyone and so she did. It was one of the promises, Aria regretted most.

"I didn't because I didn't want you to be upset about something that is totally over."

"Aw, okay. It was already "something"? You had a relationship with one of your students? Did Aria know about it?"

Aria felt her body starting to shake. She got nervous staring at her dad and expecting his answer. No, rather her mother's reaction.

"Ella, I'm sorry."

"Don't try to calm me down? Did she know, Byron? If you consider lying straight into my face, believe me, I'll get the truth!"

"Yes, she did. Aria did. Mike didn't. She caught me and Meredith kissing in my car."

"When was that?"

"Some time before our trip to Iceland."

"And you forced her to not tell me? Have you gone crazy? She is a child; how could you involve her?"

"I was nervous and didn't know what to do. I know my behavior can't be apologized. I just want you to know that this Meredith-thing is over. Completely."

"Please, shut up. I don't wanna hear it! Just leave."

"Are you breaking up with me?"

"Not at this point but I need a break. We do. Either you go or it's me who leaves."

"Ella."

"It wasn't a question, Byron!"

"My fault, therefor I'm leaving."

"Now. Get out of my view."

Aria's dad left the living room searching for clothes and his personal stuff. Her mother turned her back and Aria could see her crying. She sat there not knowing what to do. At least she was also kind of involved in it. Aria sighed. Her parents were almost breaking up in front of her and she couldn't do anything. She stood up and went upstairs, where she clashed with Mike.

"Mike? How long are you standing here?" Aria asked grabbing her head.

"Long enough to know that you're a fucking traitor. It's your fault that our family breaks apart. What did you do?" he shouted his response at her.

"Mike, please. You got that wrong." Aria answered holding him back. Mike teared of Aria and shoved her against the wall. "I hate you." He screamed and ran to his room leaving his crying sister behind. Twisted in pain, Aria sank down and cried. She didn't want to achieve this, which was why she didn't say anything. Right in this moment, her mobile made a noise. _Beep, Beep._

Aria opened the message. **Uncovered. My point. -A** Aria closed her eyes desperate leaning against the wall behind her. A told her mother. She would love to talk to Ezra now but he was probably already at school. Aria didn't even know how close they were currently. She stood up slowly and went back to her room, where she took a dress and wore it. One look in the mirror made her realize that she looked as if she was sick. Aria didn't care. Not today.

She went downstairs, left without a word and unlocked her car. She didn't feel able to concentrate on neither driving nor school but pleased every kind of diversion. Having arrived at school, Aria directly met her three best friends. Hanna, Emily and Spencer were standing in front of the building, gossiping about some Instagram pictures. Their conversation ended as soon as they spotted Aria.

"Aria? What happened?" Spencer asked getting closer do her friend.

Aria couldn't speak about it, so she just shook her head and said: "Nothing, I'm fine. Just haven't had much sleep because of our neighbor's baby."

Hanna looked at her and answered:" Firstly you're not fine at all. Secondly you are our best friend and should talk about your problems and thirdly you have only neighbors on the left because your house is the last one in the street. By pure chance I know that they are two guys and they are gay. Did you think we would believe in the baby-thing?"

Aria shook her head again not knowing what to respond. "My mum…she…found out about the Meredith stuff. My dad…moved. Mike heard them and freaked out at me. I…don't know what to do." Aria couldn't catch her breath.

 **Hanna:**

Her friends were just staring at her, then Hanna slowly started to talk: "Hey, none of this is your fault. It's okay, Ari. Don't cry. I know what you're feeling like. My dad also abandoned my mum."

"You needn't take the lessons today if you don't want to." Emily comforted her while giving Aria a hug.

"No, I'm okay. I've just lost my self-control for a moment. I can do this, guys. Let's talk later because I have to go to the washroom before school starts." Aria said turning around and walking into the building. Aria left her friends irritated behind. Hanna watched her walking and admitted: "That's usual. When your parents break up, you try to control your feelings. It doesn't work, believe in me. I had so many emotional outbursts." The others nodded their heads.

"How did her mum get it, anyway?" Emily asked. "Do you really have to ask?" Spencer responded drawing a capital A in the air.

 **Aria:**

Anyway, all the lessons had passed which Aria was glad about. Unfortunately, she hadn't seen Ezra in one of them as there wasn't an English class today. Today she would have needed to talk to him because he was always calm and understanding.

When Aria walked down the corridor, she spotted Mike in front of her: "Mike."

Having recognized Aria's voice, he didn't even turn around and just kept talking to his team mates. Aria got closer to him and tapped his back. He turned around quickly, so quickly that Aria thought he would punch her right into her face. Instead of that he grabbed her arm tightly and pulled her closer.  
"Didn't you get me right? I don't wanna see you. You are our destruction; don't you realize it? I thought we would trust each other."

"We do, Mike. I wanted to protect dad and mum. He asked me to, what else shall I have done? Unimportant what I would have done, one of them got hurt."

"No both are and I'm too. Aria, I'm so done with you." It was the second time that day, Mike pushed her away. Aria staggered backwards, surprised of the strong push. Her brother looked at her, returned to his friends and left. "The worst about all this stuff, is that I deserve it." Aria thought.

She sat down on the window still, all she wanted was this day to be over.

 **Ezra:**

Ezra Fitz was busy with correcting the 9th grader's English essays. Although it was his break, he continued working because he loved the thought of done work when arriving at home. Thinking about some arguments in one of the essays, he let his gaze wander. As his eyes were passing the door, he saw Aria standing outside. She was talking to her brother Mike but not looking happy at all. Suddenly Ezra saw Mike pushing her backwards. How could he do this to her? Ezra jumped up to help and defend her but then realized he couldn't. Just because he was her teacher. He walked to the door and peered out of the small window in the classroom's door. Aria was sitting on the window still. Seeing her alike, Ezra felt the unstoppable need of hugging and comforting her. Knowing that he couldn't, Ezra forced himself to return to his table and continue working. But all he could think about the rest of the break was Aria. Aria and nothing else.

 **Aria:**

Having finished school, Aria grabbed her bag and sneaked out of the class. On usual days, she would be looking forward on arriving at home. Today wasn't a usual day and she totally didn't. Aria thought about where to go instead but couldn't figure out any possibility:

Spencer was busy participating in extra curriculars, Hanna went shopping with Mona and Emily was at the swimming practice. She sank down on a bench next to the school building to get through some more time. Aria wasn't fancy on getting there at all. Mike was still pissed on her and her mother probably totally down. She felt guilty for not standing by her but couldn't go home. Not now.

Suddenly she had an idea but directly knew that it wasn't the best thing to do. She could go to Ezra's, couldn't she? But what if he didn't want her to? Aria shook her head.

"That's crap, Aria." She murmured. Having sat there for another half an hour, it started to rain.

"Hum I needed something like this." Aria cursed. Because of all the trouble with her parents, she had forgotten to take a jacket with her.

Unfortunately, the drizzle soon turned into a real downpour which made her soaked to the skin. Aria shivered with cold and took out her mobile phone to dial Ezra's number.

 _Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep…_ He didn't pick up-mailbox.

"Hey…It's Aria. Sorry for calling but I had some trouble at home and don't know where to go. It's getting very wet outside and I wanted to ask if I could come ..."

 _No cellular radio system._ Said a monotone voice. Shit. Aria finished the call. If she couldn't call him, he couldn't call her as well. Taking the risk of him freaking out, Aria walked to Ezra.

Finally standing in front of his door, all she could do was star at the time under the doorbell. _Fitz._ Aria's finger got closer and slowly pushed the little button which made a sound. Aria thought about turning around and leaving but Ezra had already opened the door. Aria had expected him to be angry but he wasn't at all.

"Oh god, Aria. You're soaked wet, come in."

"I don't think this is a good idea, I'm gonna ruin your carpet." Said Aria looking down at her shoes that were completely wet too. Ezra didn't hear her because he had returned to his flat, therefor Aria took her shoes off and stepped in. The flat was just the way she had imagined it to be: Vintage style and woody furniture, books on all the walls and totally comfortable. She smiled.

Ezra came around one corner, handling her a towel and some of his clothes. As his hands touched hers, he glanced at her worried:" Aria, your hands are ice-cold and shivering. Sit down at the couch over there and wait for me, I'm making some tea. You really have to warm yourself up or otherwise you'll get a cold."

"Thank you." Aria mumbled.

 **Ezra:**

When Ezra came into the living room, Aria was already sitting on the couch and snuggling up in the towel. He gave her a cup of tea:" Take care, it's very hot. I don't want you to burn your mouth." Ezra sat down next to her: "Why were you afraid to come here? You're always welcome."

"I was worried because I thought you would be angry if I just came here. I mean you could get in serious trouble."

"You should rather worry about your body temperature. How could I be angry when you arrive here totally wet and cold?" Ezra stroked Aria who rested her head on his shoulder.

"I missed spending time with you. We see every day but not at all."

"Yes, I know it's a weird situation and if you want this to end, I can understand you. But whenever we are alone, it feels right, doesn't it?"

"Yes, it totally does. I love you."

"Love you too." He answered and leaned forward to kiss Aria. She returned it smiling.

"Are you getting warm?" he asked between two kisses. She nodded and felt his hand silmultaneous sliding down her body. "You should definitely get rid of these wet clothes." Ezra joked and started peeling them of her. Only some seconds later Aria found herself laying under Ezra who was busy making out with her. She had missed him so much, seeing him and being unable to talk to him the way she'd love to, drove her crazy. Just by thinking of having to call him Mr. Fitz tomorrow, Aria felt strange and totally uncomfortable. Not now, Aria remembered herself. Now it was their time and she should enjoy the time they could spent together. Not surrounded by another twenty-five high school students.

"Hey, Aria?"

"Mmhh." She mumbled.

"Are you fine with me going a little deeper?" he grinned.

"Just show me your diving-qualities." Aria laughed and kissed his forehead.

"I always knew I would spot the pervert in you one day. Diving-qualities, really?"

"Sshh. Just dive and stop talking, breath is a rare thing you shouldn't waste."

Ezra did as he was told to and Aria couldn't believe how good he did it. Looking back, she realized that it was probably the best night the two of them had ever had. At least it was breath-taking. As Ezra stopped, Aria couldn't catch her breath at first. She starred at him, totally turned on.

"I know I'm good." Ezra whispered right into her ear and she couldn't do anything but agree. Losing her virginity with him, was a good decision because Ezra was so worth it.

Unfortunately, Aria fell asleep after some minutes, exhausted from their late night-activities. Ezra glanced at her, stroked a strain of hair out of her face and carefully picked her up to carry her towards the bed. Looking at the couch, all he could think was:

My mum should never get to know that I did it with my student on my graduation present. He smiled and covered his girlfriend with the blanket. Aria moved a little but luckily didn't wake up. Ezra knew that she had been through much in the past days and deserved some sleep. Well, a little more than some.

He had a last look at her and then left to return to his couch because Ezra didn't want to awaken her by getting into the bed. As he wanted to close the bedroom's door behind him, he heard a quiet voice coming out of the bed:" Please don't leave me. I wanna be with you." He smiled turning around. Aria looked at him, her eyes only half-way opened. She was visible trying to keep awake but it was unambiguous that she would fail. Ezra returned to her and joined her in his bed. As soon as he had lay down, her hand reached after his. Luckily, hers wasn't cold anymore which made Ezra glad. He didn't want her to suffer from a cold or anything. Aria got closer and snuggled up to his chest where she kept laying the entire night.

 **Aria:**

The first thing Aria heard, when she woke up, was the twittering of some birds outside the window. She turned her head towards it and directly felt the sun's rays that were tickling her nose tip. Wait, Aria thought, I don't even know that window. She started up, confused of all the unknown stuff surrounding her. Where am I? she questioned herself. Suddenly, Aria heard a weird noise next to her, turning around she saw Ezra who was just waking up. Now, remembering the last night piece after piece, she knew where she was. Ezra slowly sat up, yawning.

He looked at her fascinated by her appearance and kissed her forehead. Aria couldn't repress a smile as she felt his lips touching her skin. He was amazing, the perfect addition to her. Such a shame that she couldn't introduce him to her friends. It was awesome to imagine doing that. What they would probably say? Hanna would freak out and ask more questions than Aria was even able to figure out. Spencer would be angry at first, because she was doing something forbidden. Illegal exactly. An Emily? Emily would be happy not saying anything. Oh, she would congratulate her for having met somebody that cares about her. Emily has always been the shiest and still most loyal out of the five of them. Four. Alison was dead, Aria sometimes forgot about that. Still, after all this time.

Thinking about Alison, Aria came back to Emily. Now, none of the girls could say for sure what he reaction would be like. Emily had been through much in the past time which made her emotions totally kick up. As if he could read her mind, Ezra leaned over to Aria and said: "What are you considering? Is it about your parents? Or Emily?" Aria was surprised.

"How did you know?"

"I know you very well, probably and you always think about the people you care about."

"I was just thinking about Emily you were right."

"She seemed to be a different person in the last weeks. Not as concentrated and focused, I talked to her swimming instructor the day before yesterday. She was also kind of worried. Emily didn't reach her usual times and she was even less talkative than on normal days."

"Yeah, she has lots of struggle going on at home. There is something her mum is confused about. I don't know if I can tell you because it's kinda private. She really talks even less than usually although she's always been shy. And if she does, she is either sad or angry."

"I know I shouldn't have heard it but I couldn't do anything. You were arguing in front of the classroom I was sitting in, right after a talk between Emily and me. I got some fragments of what Emily shouted at you."

"Oh, I…not your fault. It must have been clearly audible. What exactly are some fragments?"

"Okay, a little more than some fragments. Actually, almost everything."

Aria sighed, he wasn't meant to hear it. But now he knew. The advantage of him getting it this way, was clearly that Aria wouldn't have to tell him about A. Okay, it was the disadvantage silmultaneous:

What if he thought she wouldn't trust him? She did but loved him so much that she didn't want him to get into any trouble. Not into her trouble because every person who knew about A could get into serious difficulties.

"You know what? We needn't talk about anything of this if you aren't ready for it or simply don't want me to know. I'm fine with that."

"I want you to know all of it, Ezra. You should have a chance to participate in my life because I love you. But some of these topics are very difficult and could get you into trouble. I already have a bad guilty conscience sometimes when I think about what this relationship could affect in your life. I don't want you to get hurt, Ezra."

"Aria. You're the most important person in my life and if you are in danger, I want to and will help you. It's my task to protect you, you're my girlfriend. I love you and you can trust me."

"There're no doubts that I do. The thing is: You can't help me with that. Nobody can and anyone who has probably ever tried to solve this problem, got hurt. More than just that."

"Wait, are you talking about Alison right now? Do you guys know who killed her and even why?"

"Okay, I'm gonna explain it to you or at least try. But promise me to neither be pissed on me keeping that secret, nor getting you into danger."

"I promise."

What Aria couldn't see, were the crossed fingers behind Ezra's back. He wanted to protect her, no matter what it would cost.

Aria still had doubts about revealing the whole A-thing to him but wanted him to know about it.

"So, you will probably hate me for what I'm gonna tell you know. It's what I regret most in my life and I know it was very bad and totally my fault."

"Aria, how could I ever hate you?"

"You know Jenna, the blind girl, don't you?"

Ezra nodded his head.

"So, I'm part of the reason why she's blind. When Alison was still alive, we had a pajama party at Emily's house which is opposite hers. We wear trying some of Emily's clothes on, when Ali suddenly shouted. She told us she had seen Toby Cavanaugh, Jenna's step brother, staring through the window. We had been naked, or only worn a bra, which made us all upset. We all wanted to call the police but Alison said that would be uncool. She suggested to throw a stink bomb into his house and told us nobody was inside. Any when all of us agreed and so we did it. But it wasn't a stink bomb and somebody was in there. Jenna was."

Aria stopped, unable to move on. Having talked about it, all the memories got into her mind again. All the pictures. She tried to catch her breath, feeling so guilty for what had happened. Realizing how difficult it was to talk about it for her, Ezra got closer and wrapped his arm around her neck.

"Listen, Aria. I won't judge you for anything you did in the past because all I want is to be happy with the person you're today and the version of you I got to know, is awesome and will always stay."

"Don't be so nice to me because I don't deserve your kindness. After having thrown the supposed stink bomb into the Cavanaugh's house, we left. And we…We made it seem as if Toby had done this. Hurt Jenna. He got imprisoned and was innocent and it was my fault, Ezra. I ruined to teenager's life in only one night, just because of a childish try of revenge."

"You made wrong decisions. That's what makes us human. Recognizing that something has gone wrong, is a very important step to do. And whose idea, was it?"

"Alison's. But the fact that it wasn't mine, doesn't justify my behavior in any way. I hurt someone, got an Innocent imprisoned and additionally lied to the police. You know, seeing Jenna at school every day is so bad because I feel so fuckin' guilty whenever she passes me with this weird stick she uses to walk. "

"It's okay, Aria. No, it's not but I don't care what you did because what I know is that you would never in a lifetime do something like this again."

"Of course, I wouldn't. But you can't make anything undone. She will never see the daylight again or her future boyfriend, her parents or anything."

"Yes, you're right. She won't and it must be awful not to be able to see the world in its whole variability of colors and shapes. But you sitting on my couch and expecting me to shout at you, doesn't improve her vision. Aria, as you said: You can't change it anymore."

Aria leaned her head against his shoulder:" Thank you for not be being pissed at me about this thing. Honestly, I've got much more stuff to uncover to you."

"When I saw you for the first time, I saw an innocent pretty and tiny high-school student. You could have warned me about your hidden dark side. I knew you were interesting but not such..."

"Yeah. Why didn't I carry a sign with me that warned you from all my guilt?"

"Probably you aren't well educated. Luckily, we are working on this. Guess we have lessons five and six together next day?"

"Oh, you're making fun of me. Don't. It's a serious topic."

"Yes, I know. Sorry. I should know better in my position as a tea…"

"Don't say the word, we aren't at school and I don't wanna be remembered by anything of you and me in English lessons."


	5. Trust me

**Hanna:**

Hanna was just entering a store in the mall as her mobile phone informed her about a new text message. She sighed, not ones again. Could this weirdo not let go of her? She still opened it and what she read, let her blood freeze in her veins.

 **Am I not the only one revealing your secrets anymore? Aria should choose the persons she uncovers them to better. -A** An audio file was attached, Hanna took her earphones out and pressed play. The voice she was listening to was clearly Aria's.

"…Don't be so nice to me because I don't deserve your kindness. After having thrown the supposed stink bomb into the Cavanaugh's house, we left. And we…We made it seem as if Toby had done this. Hurt Jenna. He got imprisoned and was innocent and it was my fault..." Hanna couldn't believe her ears, was one of her best friends just revealing the Jenna-thing? Who was with her? She wasn't in the shopping-mood anymore, so she returned to her house. On her way back, Hanna send a message to Emily and Spencer: S.O.S. Reaching her house, Hanna jumped out of the car and opened the front door to go into the living room.

The two of them almost arrived silmultaneous. Emily and Spencer had obviously been in a rush because they were breathless as they ran in.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt? What happened?"

"Yet, we are. Hopefully the cops aren't arriving here right in this moment, guys. Aria revealed the Jenna-thing to somebody, dunno who."

"She did what?"

"Tell somebody about the night it happened, somebody she seemed to be very close with. Wait, I've got an audio file. Listen."

Hanna pressed play ones again and pumped up the volume, so that every word was understandable.

Having listened to it, Spencer looked at her friends and admitted:" If I didn't know better, I would say she's talking to a boy."

"Mike" Hanna guessed.

"No, you get me wrong. Rather her boyfriend." Spencer explained to the others.

"She doesn't have one, does she?" Emily asked.

"Not that she told us anything but now that you say that. Every time I tried to talk about this topic, she avoided it." Hanna said.

"So, what are we gonna do?"

"We should talk to her without mentioning this message. I want her to know that we trust her."

"Yes, you're right, Spence. What if she doesn't admit anything?"

"Maybe this message is a fake, at least it's from A who usually wants us to argue or get into trouble and doesn't help us becoming better friends."

"We should take care who we rather trust. A or Aria. Guess we don't have to question this or?"

Emily and Hanna nodded their heads.

"I'll text her. Do you guys have time this evening?"

"Yeah, I have. I always have."

"I'm free past six because swim practice is gonna end at 17:45. Where do you wanna meet?"

"We shouldn't meet anywhere in public, because that makes talking more difficult for her. My mom is here today. No good idea to meet here. Hanna?"

"Em is anyway staying with me and my mum has an appointment this evening. She said it would get very late. Ask her to come over to me."

"But for which reason?"

"Since when do we need a reason to meet? At least we are best friends. What about a sleepover anyway?"

"Dunno."

"Why? It's a great idea. None of us will want to drive home in the darkness."

"Okay, so at six at Hanna's."

After some minutes, Aria responded.

"Guys." Spencer shouted over to Hanna and Emily who were sitting in the kitchen. "She is gonna come."

"Well done, Spence." Hanna answered. Emily left for swim practice and Spencer walked over to her house to pick up her stuff. Meanwhile Hanna prepared her room for the sleepover, she chose some DVDs and put mattresses on the floor. Suddenly the doorbell rang. Hanna looked at the clock, it was only half past five. Wondering who was arriving earlier, Hanna walked downstairs and opened the door. On the other side of it stood Aria, handling a blanket and a big bag with her.

"Hey. Sorry for being early, I hopefully don't annoy you?"

"Of course not, come in. Spencer will be there in some minutes too, I guess. "

"Oh, okay. So, what's up?"

Hanna was nervous because she knew that this evening was not going to end well. Therefor she was busy thinking about the message and not listening at all.

"Han? Are you all right?" Aria asked. "Yes, I'm fine. What did you just ask?"

 **Emily:**

All she could think about during the entire practice, was Aria. Emily trusted her and knew that she would never do anything to hurt them. She was rather worried about her than about the fact that she could have told one of their secrets. When the session was finally over, Emily showered and dressed. She then ran over to her bike, with her hair still wet, to drive to Hanna's, where she arrived a couple of minutes later.  
Her hand shook, as she pressed the doorbell. Not only because she was upset, but also because of the low temperature outside. Hanna opened, she seemed equally nervous.

"Hey, Em."

"Hey. Is Spencer here?"

"Yes, she is sitting in the living room. Come in now, your hair is soaking wet, why didn't you dry it?"

"I wanted to be here as early as possible. Let's go. Believe me, I'm so nervous."

As they entered the living room, Aria and Spencer were small-talking. How the hell could Spencer stay such calm? Emily wasn't at all but she forced herself to smile and sat down next to Aria in an armchair.

"Do you want a towel, Em?" Hanna asked, looking at her hair.

"No, I'm fine. Thank you."

"Seriously, guys. What's wrong with you? Why are all of you so nervous?" Aria asked.

"We are not." Emily lied.

"Em? Are you kidding me? Your hands are shaking and Hanna has been peeing three times since I'm here."

"Okay. Listen, we must talk about something. Don't be pissed at us."

"What is it?"

"We got this message today, exactly I did." Hanna started. "It was from A. And it was about you and the Jenna-thing. It included an audio file which was attached to the text."

Aria got pale. She obviously hadn't expected that.

"I... I can explain it." She stuttered.

The others kept looking at her, not knowing what to do. Respond, freak out or apologize?

"It's difficult. I have an affair. More than an affair, I'm in a relationship."

"What? You've got a boyfriend?" Spencer asked surprised.

"Girlfriend is also fine." Hanna said.

"Shut up, Hanna!" Emily answered.

"You've to promise me to not talk about it to anyone because I'm actually not supposed to tell anyone. It could drive him into serious difficulties."

"You can trust us. We've all had problems with our boyfriends."

"Especially Emily." Hanna giggled.

"Shut up, Han!"

"You know him." Aria mumbled.

"Let me guess. Toby Cavanaugh?" Hanna added.

"Could you stop joking, it's worse than Cavanaugh." Aria responded.

"Just say it straight out." Spencer said.

"Okay. It's like this. He's older. He could go to jail for it, but I truly love him. It's… Ezra."

"Which Ezra? I dunno any Ezra." Emily answered.

"Ezra Fitz." Aria murmured.

Everybody in the room stared at her as if she had driven crazy. Hanna jumped up, unable to keep her mouth shut. She started laughing:" You and our English teacher? Are you serious? How long is this going? Have you already done it?"

Aria blushed, she was visible ashamed about the situation: "We met before he turned out to be our teacher."

Spencer sighed. "You know that this is illegal and still continue this relationship?"

"We wanted to end it but always came back to each other. It's already going for more than three months." Aria admitted.

"Listen, Aria. If he really cares about you, it's great. Congrats." Emily said smiling at her friend.

"He does. Actually, he is really handsome."

"And he's hot. "Hanna added, earning a withering look of Spencer and Emily.

"You told him about the Jenna-thing? You know that you're affecting our lives with that, don't you? What if he talks to our parents? If so, I can directly build up my tent in the garden. Oh no, forget the tent."

"Spence, I didn't mean to but he got our argument in front of the class room, remember it? He heard everything. I didn't want him to think I wouldn't trust him or anything because I do, I totally do. I explained it to him and he understood me. He was neither angry nor told me to talk to the cops or anything."

"We aren't either, I just wished you would have told us about him because we are friends and I thought we were close enough to talk about stuff like this." Spencer said.

"We are but honestly our relationship had some ups and downs and till yesterday, I wasn't sure about telling you. I expected you to freak out about it and could really do without your: Didn't I tell you? I wanted it to be a safe thing…Anyway you're right still, I should have told you, sorry guys."

"Aria, it's okay, we are glad about it if it makes you happy. To be honest I would also want my girlfriend to know everything about me, it's your decision. If you think he's trustworthy, I'm fine with it." Emily explained and stood up to hug her.

Suddenly Aria got pale again. "Hey, Aria? Are you okay? You don't look good at all." Emily said looking at her worried.

Aria shook her head:" If A sent you an audio-file of our conversation, she must have been in Ezra's flat. He…He locked the door some minutes before. A was with us the whole…evening…Did she watch us? What if…my parents…?"

Emily kept holding her tightly, feeling her friend's body shivering. "You shouldn't worry about something that hasn't happened yet. Try to stay calm."

"Guys? What if there's a microphone or even a camera in his flat?" Hanna asked.

"You're tactless, don't you see that she isn't doing well? "Emily whispered but Spencer responded:

"I know, it's the wrong point and I don't like saying that but Hanna might be right: Hiding something in a flat is way easier than hiding yourself in it. You should warn Ezra."

Aria's breath got faster: "Do you think A is watching him? He could get imprisoned for what we…we did last night."

"Oh, no. You didn't do it yesterday, did you?" Hanna asked glancing at Aria. She nodded her head, unable to talk.

"Guys. It's already very late, we should sleep and continue talking tomorrow when we are all alert." Spencer mentioned.

"Spence is right, we better go to bed and sleep. "Emily agreed.

 **Later in Hanna's bedroom:**

The girls had just brushed their teeth and were ready to go to bed now. Hanna lay down in hers which was surrounded by mattresses. Emily usually slept next to her but now offered Aria her place: "Ari, lay down next to Hanna, I'll sleep on the ground with Spencer."

"That's very kind but you needn't. I can really sleep…"

"No, Aria. Get your ass into the bad. We won't accept any nos." Hanna interrupted her and Aria lay down next to her reluctantly but grateful.

 **Spencer:**

It was already late when Spencer woke up but everybody else was still asleep. Spencer stood up yawning and carefully stepped about Emily who was laying across the whole floor. Spencer went downstairs to the kitchen to make breakfast. As she entered it, she spotted a piece of paper on the table:

 _Gotta go to meet a client, sorry. Have a nice day, you two. Mom_

Spencer smiled reading it and started setting the table, trying not to wake anybody up. She opened the fridge which was surprisingly not empty. Apparently Ashley had been shopping. Spencer chose toast and put them into the toaster. During waiting for them getting ready, she put marmalade and butter onto the table. Luckily it wouldn't take so long because Hanna had a very big toaster, where she could put four slices into.

Spencer returned to the bedroom to wake the others up.

"Guys, breakfast is ready." She whispered opening the curtains. Aria pulled her blanket over her face and Emily sat up yawing: "It's so early, Spence." The only one who stood up directly, was Hanna. She was hungry because she hadn't eaten anything for dinner. After some minutes, each of them had forced herself to stand up and the girls were walking downstairs.  
When they had sat down on the table, the toaster made a sound. Spencer stood up to get the toasts but as she wanted to put them into the bread basket, she started. Hanna who had seen her weird movement, jumped up and walked over to her.

"Spence, did you burn yourself or what happened?" Looking at the toasts, Hanna silenced.

Something was clearly visible on each of the toasts: _Enjoy your meAl!_

Appearing behind their friends, Aria and Emily shook their heads. "I don't think, I'm hungry anymore." Hanna admitted pointing at the bread basket.

"Knowing that this bitch can break into our houses, is scaring." Emily said looking around. Spencer simply threw the toasts out, without any further reaction.

"You know what? Get dressed, we're eating in a café. It's my treat." Spencer answered jangling her car keys. The girls agreed and went upstairs to wear something. They had breakfast in a café in Rosewood, where they stayed for more than two hours and talked about everything, they hadn't been talking about yesterday: the Jenna-thing, Ezra and A.

In the end, each of them was glad about not having slept alone in their rooms alone. Spencer didn't even want to imagine what A was capable of. Deep inside, Spencer knew that she would sooner or later get to know that but what she didn't know yet was that A was almost capable of everything.


	6. Toby Cavanaugh

**Aria:**

Aria got home late that day which wasn't even bad. After the past day's troubles, she really wasn't sure if she could go there. She still knew she had to and running away was no salvation. Therefor she put her key into the keyhole and slowly opened the door. It was quiet in here, no arguing parents, no upset Mike. Hopefully not the silence before the storm, Aria thought entering the living room. Her mother sat on a chair and read a book but looked up as she heard her daughter's steps.

"Aria." She said and stood up. Aria had expected her to either be angry or disappointed but she seemed rather worried and happy to see her. "I'm not blaming you for anything, your father asked you to keep that secret. None of this is your fault." She whispered carefully hugging her.

"I'm so, so sorry mum. I didn't want to achieve this, I wanted to protect you."

"I know, darling. It's okay. Your dad made a big mistake, with Meredith and with involving you. He shouldn't have brought you into this situation."

"Did you break up, mum?" Aria asked carefully and let go of her mother to watch her while talking.

"Honestly, I'm not sure where we are standing at this point. But I would say both of us need a break to not rush into anything. Don't worry, we will handle this anyway."

"Mike, he was very angry and actually I understand him. He feels taken by me."

"I know, Aria but we had a long talk yesterday's evening and he seemed to understand that it wasn't your choice. He was openminded and shared his fears with me. Probably he isn't angry anymore if he ever was. I guess he was rather disappointed and couldn't express that."

"Is he here?"

"Yes, he's upstairs in his room, go and talk to him."

"Mum, thank you so much for understanding me. If you need somebody to talk and I think so, tell me. I'm still there for you."

"It's okay, Aria. Just go and talk to your brother."

 **Spencer:**

While all the others had gone home after breakfast, Spencer walked over to the library. No, she rather run. She had to lend a book about the Russian revolution which she needed for an essay that she would have to read out on Monday. Spencer was in a rush because it was quarter to two and that's when the library closed. Trying to pull out her identity card, she ran upstairs. Unluckily it was in her jacket pocket and the zipper didn't work.

As Spencer just managed to open the zipper and wanted to take her card out, she puzzled by the last step and bumped into somebody who was leaving the library. "Ouch." She mumbled looking up. Spencer couldn't believe her eyes: The person standing in front of her, was nobody else than Toby. Toby Cavanaugh.

He held his hand towards Spencer who had fallen to the ground. Although she hesitated to grab it, he reached after hers and pulled her up.

"Are you okay?" She nodded her head which was still hurting. "I think so."

"I didn't expect somebody to ran upstairs such…?"

"Tumultuous?" Spencer added smiling about herself. He always met them in the weirdest situations.

"What were you looking for before running into me?"

"I must lend a book about the Russian revolution because there's this essay I forgot about and now I'm in a huge rush."

"Spencer Hastings forgot to do something. All sure you're doing well?"

She blushed not knowing what to respond. "You should get in now if you don't want to break in."

"Yes, you're right. Thank you, see you, I guess."

"Thank you for what? Not catching you and letting you hit the ground instead? Stupid question maybe but would you like to accompany me by drinking a coffee? I owe you something."

"I'd love to. Although it's me owing you something, I can't return you." Spencer was surprised of her own answer.

"If you anyway can't, why don't we start with a coffee?"

"In half an hour at the coffee shop over there?"

"Yes, fine. See you."

Spencer watched him moving downstairs and then entered the library fast to pick the book, she needed. All she could think about was her meeting with Toby, the last person she had expected to meet with today. The Russian revolution would have to wait. This probably meant a night shift but Spencer didn't care.

Half an hour later:

Standing in front of the coffee shop, Spencer was kind of nervous. What would they talk about? Why did she even meet a guy she didn't know much about? She still pushed against the door which slide open. Toby already sat at a table in the corner, engrossed in a book he was holding in his hands. Spencer could read the title. Shakespeare-Much ado about nothing. She loved Shakespeare and hadn't expected him to read books alike.

Okay, honestly, she didn't think he would read at all. That's exactly what Emily meant. We have always judged people we didn't even know. Maybe Toby is somebody else. Not only maybe, probably.

Ending her thoughts, Spencer walked over to the table and sat down opposite him. Seeing her, Toby put his book down and smiled.

"To be honest, I wasn't sure if you would come."

"Me too." Spencer admitted. "But now I'm here. With you."

"Do you wanna order something?" he asked.

"Latte with soya milk, I guess. What about you?"

"Same but without soya." He grinned.

"I saw you reading this book, when I walked in. It's Shakespeare, isn't it?"

"Oh, yes. It is. I've just started it and it's awesome. Like Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet are as well."

"You've read them? I liked Hamlet the most probably but this one is interesting too. You'll love the ending."

"Have you ever seen one of his plays?"

"Unfortunately, not but it's on top of the list of the things I wanna do in case. Have you?"

"No but my parents have and I think that's very enviable. If you had the choice, which one would you wanna see?"

"Difficult question. Each of his plays must be great but maybe Hamlet. Romeo and Juliet is too dramatic and classical. I would want to see something special."

"That's what I thought too. Many people have seen Romeo and Juliet and I personally don't like the idea of the dead couple in the end."

"Yes, although it's out of love and you already see this coming, it's still disappointing every time I read the book."

During their conversation, a waiter brought their coffees but they didn't even realize it because they were totally focused on talking.

"What are you doing now that you are not going to school anymore?"

"Oh, I started homeschooling but I don't like it. I will maybe return to school in the next weeks but don't tell anyone, it's not sure. In the past month, I had much free time because I needn't participate in any extracurriculars and therefor I did an apprenticeship to a joiner. It's what I've always liked to do."

"That's great, so do you earn money with it?"

"I used to but in this town, nobody wants me to work for him because they all don't want me to get into their houses."

"I'm sorry. It's our fault, right?"

"Mostly yes but I also could have told the truth and I didn't."

"Why, Toby?"

"Because this time it wasn't my fault but I also wasn't as insecure as you thought I was. I mean, I did many things I really regret."

"So, was it some kind of self-punishment?"

"You could say so. Maybe I thought that the other things I had done would come out, my situation would be even worse. That's why I'm not angry at you anymore. I was. But rather at Alison."

Spencer nodded her head thinking about what he had just said. He wasn't insecure, what did this mean? He was angry at Alison?

Spencer could feel her breath getting faster. There was no possibility that Toby had killed Alison, wasn't there? No, he was in jail, just when she disappeared. Not able to hold it back, Spencer said straight out: "I've to ask that now. Don't be pissed at me or judge me for what I'm going to ask."

"I know what you're going to ask. If I killed Alison, right?"

Spencer nodded her head already feeling guilty for having thought about this.

"You know what? I didn't kill her because I was in jail and for multiple other reasons. I must be honest to you: If I would have had the encourage to even hurt her, I would have done it. But I hadn't. Spencer, Alison and I knew each other better than everybody thought and I simply would not have been able to kill her."

"Sorry, the question was probably tactless. I still have another: What do you mean with you were closer than everybody thought?"

"Not that close. We met several times, just talked to each other. She hung up with me in my house. But one day I asked her to go because my mother was in a bad mood. That made her angry and some days later…She threw the fire work into our house because she wanted to hurt me. What she didn't know was that Jenna was in there, too."

"Honestly, if she had known it, she wouldn't have cared either. Alison couldn't stand Jenna. I believe she saw as a competitor. I'm not even sure if Alison really didn't know it. When it comes to her, you can't be sure about anything. I meant, couldn't be."

"Was she a great loss? So, do you miss her?"

"I don't know. Sometimes, yes. She always made the people who were with her, feel special. That was it I probably liked about being with her. Most of the time, I don't because so many things in this town remember me of her other side. The one she showed to anyone all the time. Looking back, I never realized how unfair she was."

"That's what I got to see of her."

"Yes, I know. But sometimes there were moments, I thought she acted all the time just to not have to show her real feelings to anybody."

"Why would somebody do this?"

"Because in the end your feelings are the only weakness you have and that's how somebody can hurt you. But if everything you show to others is fake, almost nobody can. One time, last year, Jason and his friends had a party at his house and she came over to me asking if she could stay overnight. At first, she acted the way she always did but when I woke up that night, I heard her crying. Very quiet but I'm sure she was. It sounded so vulnerable, it shocked me and I didn't do anything. Because I had never seen her crying. I didn't even know she could."

"Could what?"

"Cry. I thought, like everyone else did, she wasn't vulnerable. But she was and whenever I think of her, some part of me thinks of this night and I sometimes wish she would have shown this side of her to us. She didn't and now she's gone and we'll never get to see it."

"Maybe that's why."

"What?"

"I sometimes talk to Emily on the floors or in chemic and I had the impression that she really misses her. I never understood that because Emily is so different to the Alison I got to know."

"She could be her opposite. She's loyal and compassionate. Maybe Emily knew her better than anybody else did. She told me she misses her and she really does. If Alison would have been only a bad person, she wouldn't."

"Probably. I just can't imagine her in a different way. Her behavior was always to bad so that I could."

"Are you and Emily friends?"

"No, rather neighbors who sometimes talk when they've nobody else to."

Spencer smiled, Toby was sympathy. She would have never thought that. As Spencer looked up, she realized how late it already was.

"What time is it?"

"Oh, wait." Toby took his mobile phone out. "God. It's almost eight o'clock."

"We sat here for more than five hours?!"

"Seems so. We better pay. It's already getting dark outside."

"Okay, I'll go and pay for us."

"You needn't, Spencer. Let me…"

"I think it's my turn to do so. Next time, you'll."

"Next time?" Toby asked glancing at her.

"Seems as if I like spending time with you, otherwise we wouldn't have been here for quarter a day without realizing it."

Spencer walked over to the waiter and paid their coffees. When she turned around, Toby already stood next to the door, waiting for her.

"How do you get home?"

"I'm walking but it's only fifteen minutes from here and you?"

"Same but Spencer, it's getting dark. I will join you and return to my house afterwards."

"Thank you, Toby. But I don't want you to go the long way around for me."

"It's no problem. As long as Alison's murderer is still out there, I won't let you walk there alone."

Spencer stopped contradicting and the two of them left the café together.

On the way home:

During their stay in the café, the weather had become worse: It was colder and very windy. Now that Spencer shivered from cold, she regretted not having taken a jacket with her. Toby glanced at her.

"Are you cold?"

Spencer nodded her head: "A little. I forgot my jacket at home."

Only some seconds later, Toby put his jacket over her shoulders. "You needn't…" He interrupted her: "Don't say anything, just take it. I don't want you to shiver."

"Thank you." Spencer mumbled, pulling the warm jacket closer to her body.

When they had almost reached the Hasting's house, they stopped and paused for a while.

"It was very kind of you to bring me home." Spencer whispered. She didn't want anybody inside to hear them.

"No problem, Spencer." He answered as quiet as.

As they were standing there, under a star full night sky, Spencer felt his hand touching hers. She turned around and when their eyes met, she leaned forward and kissed him.

"Sorry. I don't know why I did this." Spencer sad, surprised by her own behavior.

"But I do." Toby answered whispering and returned the kiss. Spencer's lips touched his slowly and then she felt his tongue gliding into her mouth. She didn't hold him back. Spencer was embarrassed and still happy.

As they freed themselves from each other, Toby looked at her fascinated. "You better get in now, before you get too cold."

"Toby?" Spencer asked leaving.

"Yes?"

"I've still got your jacket."

"You can return it to me later. I guess, we will have a later?"

"We will." Spencer said opening the front door, she waved and Toby waved back. Then the door snap shut behind her. She leaned against it smiling. What had she just done? Kissed Toby Cavanaugh. Her fingers slowly reached for her lips and touched them. They were still itching.

Having walked upstairs to her room, this time without being seen by Melissa, Spencer lay down on her bed. She undressed the jacket, she was still wearing. It smelled like Toby, different from Wren's aftershave. Spencer laughed, thinking that Melissa would at least not make any comment about that this time.

When she had almost fallen asleep, her mobile made a sound. Usually, she would have turned it on directly. Usually she didn't kiss Toby Cavanaugh. Today wasn't usual and she wouldn't let some stupid A message ruin her day. Not another time.


	7. Invitation?

**Emily:**

It was early evening and Emily sat at her desk trying to finish an essay she had to handle the teacher tomorrow. The Russian revolution, what a boring thing to write about. Hanna was showering in the bad next door. Unfortunately, she loved to sing under the shower and even more unfortunately was, that she couldn't sing at all. Emily looked up from her homework stopping to type.

 _Hey, Baby. I think I wanna marry youuuuu._ She sighed and stood up. This was already going on for almost half an hour. Emily knocked the door and shouted: "Hanna?"

"Yeah?" she stopped singing.

"Could you stop singing, please? I'm trying to concentrate on some important homework."

"Sorry, Em. I thought you wouldn't hear me."

"If you have luck, the neighbors didn't hear you." Emily joked returning to her desk. She didn't know how to write the comment on her essay, the teacher asked for. Realizing that it wasn't that late, she dialed Spencer's number.

 _Beep, Beep, Beep._ It took some time until Spencer finally answered.  
"Hey Spence."

"Em."

"Have you already been sleeping or why are you yawning?"

"I have but doesn't matter. Why're you calling?"

"This essay, how did you write the comment? I don't know how to start."

"Wait, which essay?"

"The one about the Russian revolution, don't say you forgot about it."

"Ouch. I did. Shit, sorry Em, I must start right now. Can't help you but thank you for remembering me. "

Emily sighed, she needed help once and that was probably the only time in her entire schooldays, Spencer forgot about some homework. Hanna entered the room.

"Are you mad at me or why are you looking such angry?"

"No, Han. I'm not. It's just that I wanted to ask Spencer for help because I don't manage to write this comment on the essay but she forgot about it and hung up."

"Oh. Why didn't you ask me?"

"Are you kidding me? At first because you were working on your singing career under the shower and at second because I honestly expected that you wouldn't have done it."

"Of course, I have. It's history and I don't wanna have a bad mark in it again."

"I didn't know you care about your marks."

"Usually I don't but since my parents divorced, my father always visited us when I was in trouble and I want him to be proud. At least once because he never is. I know it's nothing in comparison to your problems but he only recognizes that I'm alive when I fail in anything."

"Sorry, Han. I didn't mean to say you're always failing. I just want you to know that I'm proud of you. I'm proud of you having lost weight and I also am if you do your homework."

"Thank you but you sound like my parents."

"Maybe that's what a best friend has to sound like if the parents don't." Emily said and hugged her.

"If you want to, just copy my comment. But change it a little bit."

"No, I'm fine. I'll get this done."

"If not, just tell me."

Hanna plugged in her headphones and her head started to move in the songs beat. Emily smiled. Hanna would be busy for at least one hour. So, she had time to finish the essay. Knowing that this needed to be done, she got back to work and continued.

 **Aria:**

She had talked to Mike and it proved as easier than she had thought. Having thought about his sister's behavior, he calmed down and they got on with each other. He apologized many times for having hurt her. Aria was happy that they had finished their argument.

She relaxed on her bed, as Mike entered the room.

"Aria?" he asked.

"Yes?" she answered sitting up.

"Do you think mum and dad will divorce?"

Aria thought about her answer carefully. "Mike. I could tell you they won't so that you wouldn't worry about it but honestly, I can't. Mum told me both need a break to not run into anything they would regret later. Although it's difficult, the best thing to do is just wait and see."

"I hate not being able to do something."

"Me too but they're adults and it's best if we let them solve their problems on their own. You know that whenever you wanna talk about it, you can come in and we will? That's what a sister is there for."

"I know, Aria. Thank you. But if you wanna, you can come to me either. I'm no kid anymore and there for you if you're sad. Don't think, I don't see that you aren't doing well. Just because I behaved like a total idiot, doesn't mean I don't know you well enough to see when you're upset. I do."

"I'll get over it. It's just that I feel so guilty."

"You aren't. It's dad's fault. Don't worry."

Aria nodded her head, without wanting to, she felt her eyes filling with tears. She was the older sister and shouldn't cry now. Aria turned her face away from Mike, trying to hide her tears.

"Hey, are you crying?"

"No, there's just some dust in my eye."

"Look at me." She shook her head not wanting him to spot the tears that were now running down her checks. Mike sat down next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. Aria hided her face in his pullover and let the tears run down. She sobbed, feeling his hand caressing her back.

Mike hadn't expected this emotional outburst but understood her. Not knowing what to do instead, he just kept her close until it was over. Aria raised her head looking at Mike.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to cry." She whispered.

"It's okay to cry, Aria. If you're sad, you don't have to suppress it."

"Sounds as if you were the older one." She sniffled.

Mike let go of her and she sat up.

"I honestly wanted to sleep at a friend's today and must leave in some minutes but I'll not if you don't wanna be alone today. Please be honest, it's all right if not."

Shaking her head, she answered: "No, I'm fine. Have fun Mike, you can go. Don't worry about me."

Not sure if she was in the condition to be alone, Mike left the room hesitant.

Aria lay down on the bed as Mike had left the room. Covering herself with the blanket, she swiped the last tears away. Her brother was so grown up, she thought.

Before he left, Mike considered Aria's room to check if she was okay. Aria had already fallen asleep, so he closed the curtains and sneaked out.

Emily and Hanna would also get to bed in some minutes but it would take much more time until the lights in the Hasting's house would be finally turned out.

The next day at school:

Spencer opened her locker to take her history stuff out. She had been working on the essay almost the entire night and was tired. When she took out her book, somebody touched her back. She turned around to look right into Mona's face. Oh no, Mona.

"Hey, Spencer. I'm celebrating my birthday and you luck one are invited to it. By the way, you could use some makeup that day because you look…awful. I could give you some tips."

"Thank you, Mona but no, I don't need any makeup tips. Just didn't sleep much that night."

"Oh. So, see you then. And could you handle them to Hanna, Emily and Aria?"

"Yes, I'll. When is it?"

"Friday, see you then."

Spencer sighed, why did Mona invite her to her birthday five days before? She didn't even like Mona. But Spencer knew that she was invited as a friend of Hanna. Grabbing her book, she opened the invitation. Mona was celebrating at a lake in the woods, didn't sound bad. Spencer walked over to the classroom and sat down after having put their invitations on her friend's desks.

The girls arrived soon and found them. Hanna smiled because Mona was a good friend of her and Spencer could see how she was already thinking about her present. Emily opened and closed the card without any reaction. Aria seemed to be happy about being invited at first but reading the text her smile disappeared.

Spencer couldn't wonder about her reaction because the teacher appeared. Maybe she had also misunderstood her mimic.

 **Emily:**

Having finished school, Emily and Hanna walked home. As they arrived there, she checked her mobile phone. _One missed call: Pam Fields_

Emily took a deep breath, during her mobile phone dialed her mum's number. Hopefully no bad news. Her mum answered the call directly.

"Emily."

"Hey, mum."

"Sorry for getting in touch with you that late but I your dad and I had a lot to talk about. We don't see each other often. I think… I must apologize. I overreacted and should not have thrown you out. Maybe I should try to understand you and listen, before I judge you. I'm sorry."

"I don't know what to say."

"Yes, just listen. Your dad and I had a long conversation and concluded that we needn't agree with it but we as your parents should still support you. It must have been awful for you to think that I wouldn't love you anymore if you show us your true feelings. I don't love you less, I just didn't know how to react."

"Mum, I'm so glad that you try to understand me."

"Emily, I was raised very catholic and couldn't identify with the idea of having a gay daughter. I will return in two days. We should talk about it face to face. I just wanted you to know that I love you and we can talk about it."

"I love you, too. I'm still the same girl, I've always been. Nothing changed about me."

"I know. It took me some time to recognize that but now I know. Your dad is busy now but he'll visit us in a month. He asked me to tell you that he loves you and tries to understand you. He says it's okay and he won't stop you from being yourself."  
"Thank you for calling me mum. I'll pick you up from the airport, just text me. Please tell dad, that I love him and I value that."

"I will. Bye, see you in two days, Emily."

Emily hung up, unable to believe what her mother had said. All the worries and the sadness of the past few days were gone.

Hanna entered the kitchen, Emily had been talking to her mother in. "Sorry for listening but I had to. Are you and your mum fine again?"

"Yes, I think so. She apologized and will return in two days."

"I'm so happy for you, Em. It's awesome that she finally accepts it."

"You don't know how good it feels to know that my mum is trying to understand me and furthermore my dad is going to visit us in one month. Seems as if some of my problems were just solved."

"Yes, Em. That's great."

They hugged each other and celebrated the good news together by watching a movie.

It was the first night out of many, Emily slept without waking up a single time.


	8. Time to celebrAte

**Hanna:**

Some days later:

It was Friday which meant the girls would celebrate Mona's birthday. They met after school to plan the evening and talk about their presents.

"Do you all have a present?" Hanna asked. The others nodded their heads. Although none of them liked Mona, they had bought one because that's what you do when you're invited to a birthday party.

Hanna looked around. "You're all going there, aren't you?"

"Yes, we are because she invited us but to be honest, we're going there as your friends who are invited because of your friendship to Mona."

"Thank you for coming, I know you don't like her." Aria sat next to them not saying anything, Spencer gave her a quiet tap.

"Hey, Ari. What's wrong with you? Is it because of your parents?"

Aria didn't react at first because she was absentminded and hadn't listened. Spencer looked at her and repeated herself: "Aria?"

"What?" she started. "Did you say something?"

"I was asking what's wrong with you."

"No, nothing. I'm fine. Haven't slept much, that's it." Knowing that it wasn't the truth, Hanna shook her head but didn't continue asking. If Aria didn't want to talk about it, they shouldn't force her.

Emily changed the subject: "How are you getting there? We could take my car."

"I didn't know you have one." Hanna admitted.

"After my mother returned, she bought me an old golf, I could use at first. It's not as luxurious as Spencer's car but I think we could use it. It doesn't matter if it's going to get dirty at the lake because it anyway is." She giggled.

"Okay, so let's take yours. When are we leaving?"

"Dunno. Start's at eight, so maybe in one hour?"

"Yes okay, we're meeting at Emily's then. See you, guys."

One hour later: 

The girls were sitting in Emily's car which she was driving. It took them more than half an hour to get to the lake because it was very remote near the woods.

Hanna yawned. "Why is Mona celebrating her birthday in the middle of nowhere?" she sighed.

"Guys." Emily said. "I've already been here."

"What's so weird about that?" Spencer asked.

"We all have. Don't you remember having walked here? We're close to Noel Kahn's hut."

"What has Mona to do with Noel?" Aria asked from the backseat. Before any of the others could guess, the question was already answered.  
As they reached the lake which was almost next to the hut, they saw Mona and Noel kissing right in front of them. "

"Han? Did you know they hooked up?" Spencer asked staring at the two.

"Not yet but now I do." Hanna answered still surprised of her view.

"I didn't even know they talk to each other." Aria whispered. "We still don't. All they do for one minute is just slide their tongue into each other's mouths." Spencer joked.

"Let's get out here." Emily suggested pulling her car key out the ignition lock. "I don't wanna see this anymore."

So, they got out and walked over to the desk, Mona was collecting her present's at. They put their own presents on there, too.

"Many presents." Hanna mumbled. The others nodded their heads.

"What are we gonna do now? Does anybody wanna swim?" Emily suggested.

"I'm not that much into dirty green lake water." Hanna said looking at the lake. Some people from school were swimming in it although it wasn't very warm. The sun wasn't shining at all.

"It's getting colder." Spencer admitted standing there only in a short dress. None of them had thought about the late time and the weather.

Suddenly Mona walked over to them. "Hey, don't you wanna congratulate me?" she said. Usually, people joke about things alike but when it came to Mona, you could be sure that she wasn't joking.

"We wanted to." Hanna responded. "But you were busy doing something else."

Mona blushed: "Oh, I must have missed you. What about going for a walk you guys? We could show you around."

"Plural? But yes, we don't have anything else to do anyway." Hanna agreed.

Noel appeared behind Mona and the small group began to walk around.

 **Spencer:**

When they had just walked for a few minutes, Mona left because one of her guests asked her to. She explained:" Sorry but I have to leave you with Noel, he'll show you everything. He's not a bad companion, believe me."

Spencer sighed. She didn't like the idea of walking around in the woods with Noel Kahn who wasn't one of their best friends. Exactly, they were almost enemies. Noel couldn't suppress a smile, knowing that the girls were kinda afraid of him. He began to talk: "So, why don't we get to the landing stage over there. It has a nice view." She was wondering about him being nice or at least trying to, maybe he was a good actor. Spencer didn't know what to respond, neither did the others.

As they reached the landing stage, Spencer recognized that Aria was walking slower. Noel turned around to them, realizing that Aria had stopped on half the way, he said: "Aria, come over. You don't wanna miss this view."

Aria seemed not willing to go to them but also didn't want to be left behind. Therefor she walked to her friends. Spencer didn't know what was wrong with her, she had behaved alike the entire day.  
When they were standing at the end of the land stage, they could hear the water babbling under their feet.

"I have had enough of this view." Aria admitted and turned around to leave but Noel held her back: "Aria, there's something I wanted you to know. We had this argument and you made a fool of me in front of everyone. I don't like it when girls like you do that. Take it as a revenge." He finished, pulled her towards him and lifted her up. Aria was pale and screamed: "Noel, that's not funny. Let go of me."

The other girls couldn't do anything against him, he was way stronger and taller. "I shall let go of you? I don't like obeying but if you ask for that such friendly." He answered, throwing her into the dark water. Aria hit the surface meters away from the land stage, screaming. He laughed, turned around and running away, Spencer could hear him shouting: "Never mess with me."

"Aria, get back to us!" Emily screamed but Aria sank again and again waving with her hands in a weird way.

"I…can't…swim." She screamed, swallowing water. Then she couldn't keep herself above the surface and disappeared in the dark water. Emily reacted fast, jumping into the lake. She swam to the point, they had seen Aria for the last time and dived into the water.

"Hanna. She'll need help!" Spencer screamed panicking. "I'm not good at swimming either." She answered, so Spencer followed Emily to help her.

As Spencer reached her, Emily was just pulling Aria out of the water and trying to keep her above the water surface. Spencer grabbed Aria's arms and the two swam back to the land stage carrying her with them.  
"Hanna! Get her out of the water!" Spencer screamed and Hanna reached for Aria's wrists to pull. She then wrapped her arms around her friend's shoulders and managed to pull her out of the water. Hanna lay Aria down on the land stage.

When Spencer and Emily had climbed up to Hanna and Aria, they spotted her laying there with her eyes closed. Spencer who had participated in a first-aid-course, put her hands under her head and lifted it up a little. Aria began to cough, water ran out of her mouth.

"She's breathing." It didn't take long, until Aria started up from her unconsciousness. She coughed more and more and then opened her eyes, trying to catch her breath.

"Aria." Spencer said, happy about that her friend was waking up. She helped her sitting up.

"Thank you." Aria mumbled dazed.

Emily knelt next to her: "I didn't know you couldn't swim, you almost drowned because we realized it so late."

"I didn't tell you because I was ashamed. I thought you'd make fun of me because Em, you're the school's best swimmer and I can't at all."

Hanna hugged Aria who still sat on the ground: "Ari, we never would. Honestly, I also can't very well, that's why Spencer had to help Emily saving you."

"Noel is such an asshole." Spencer whispered.

"He knew I couldn't." Aria mumbled. "What?" Emily answered, almost shouting.

"We're in PE together and he got a conversation between me and the teacher. He made some stupid jokes." Aria explained, realizing what Noel had just done. Her eyes filled with tears thinking of what would have happened if Emily and Spencer hadn't saved her.

"It's okay, Aria. You're here and nothing bad happened, for luck. Don't cry." Emily said stroking her friend's back. Hanna touched her hand: "You're ice cold. Wait." She said and undressed her jacket which she handled Aria.

Spencer and Emily were also shivering from cold because neither the water nor the temperature in general was warm and they were soaking wet.

"Em, your car is more than a mile from here. Walking there would be stupid, you could all get a cold. Additionally, your remote control is wet, isn't it?"

She nodded her head, wrapping her arms around her body. "We'll call somebody to pick us up. Who?"

Spencer had an idea but this would affect many explanations because she had no choice she said: "Give me your phone, Han. I'll explain it to you while we're waiting. Spencer dialed Toby's number, not sure if he would answer. The others looked at her expectantly.

Toby answered: "Yes?"

"Hey, it's Spencer. I'm calling from Hanna's mobile phone. Sorry this might seem weird but could you pick us up and carry some towels and dry clothes with you? I'll send you the location."

"Oh, of course I can. Are you okay?"

"I am but I'm not sure about Aria. Please hurry up."

"I will. Take care of you. Love you."

"You too."

Spencer hung up, not knowing what to say or how to. "Who was that, Spence?" Hanna asked.

"After our breakfast last week, I went to the library to lend a book for an essay. Because it was almost closing, I was in a huge rush and ran into somebody."

"Details?" Hanna said, not willing to wait.

"We went for a coffee afterwards and talked a little. Okay, we talked for almost six hours and forgot about the time. It was very late and dark and cold…"

Emily interrupted her: "And he brought you home."

"He did. He was really kind and intelligent and..."

"What?" Aria asked, also wanting to know who would be picking them up.

"I kissed him." Spencer admitted blushing. Hanna sighed. "You hooked up with somebody? Since when are all of you keeping your boyfriends secret from us?"

"Who is it?" Emily asked.

"Don't freak out. To..."

"…by Cavanaugh. Really, Spence? I didn't know you were into bad-boys."

Aria giggled. "If you can call him a bad-boy. At least she brought him to jail."

"You're not freaking out?" Spencer asked carefully.

"Spencer. Some month ago, I would have. But now?  
One of my friends is dating her teacher, the other one outed as gay and you think I'll freak out because you're dating an ex-prisoner with a blind step sister?"

Aria and Emily laughed: "When you say it like this, it sounds weird. The only thing I worry about is who you'll date? An ex-prisoner who teaches English?"

Spencer grinned. "We judged him so wrong, Toby reads Shakespeare."

"Aw, no. That's disappointing. No bad-boy, a book club member?" Hanna joked.

Just then, Toby arrived. Hanna stood up, helping Aria to do so as well. She was still a little shaky and therefor Hanna wrapped her arm around her to get her to the car.

Toby opened his trunk and handled the girls towels. Spencer sat down on the front seat next to him and leaned over to him. "Thank you." She whispered. He smiled as she stroked his hand.

"What happened?" he asked, looking at Aria through his rear mirror. She was shivering and by the way very pale.

Hanna explained everything to him because she was the only dry girl in the car and additionally loved talking. Toby was shocked as he heard what Noel had done.

"Why would he want you to get hurt?" he asked. "I dunno." Aria answered.

"Spencer, where shall I carry you?"

"We wanted to sleep at my house, originally. Still?" The others nodded. Toby drove them to the Hasting's house. As he reached it, everybody within Aria got out of the car. She was leaning against the car window, her eyes closed. Exhausted from the evening, she had fallen asleep.

"You better get in and warm yourself up." He said to Emily and Spencer. "I'll get her."

He carefully opened the door and caught her, before she fell out. Toby lifted her up and carried her into the house, where he lay her down on the couch.

When he wanted to leave, he felt a hand touching his back. Spencer had followed him. Her wet hair and clothes were sticking on her and she was shivering but didn't care.

"Toby." She said holding him back. He turned around to her. "What are you doing here? You'll get a cold, Spencer. Get in." he suggested.

"I didn't want you to leave without having done something." she whispered and kissed him, standing on her tiptoes. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. They paused alike for a while and just stared at the stars.

"Did you see that?" he asked quiet. "A shooting stars."

"Means you can make a wish." Spencer responded.

"I have everything, I ever wanted to have." Toby answered almost not making a sound and kissed her forehead. "Because I'm with you, Spencer."


	9. Post mortem

**Aria:**

When Aria woke up, she didn't know where she was. She sat up and reached for her head which still felt weird. Her headache made her dazed. She lay back down to refresh her memory. What had happened yesterday's evening?

Everything, she could remember was almost having drowned because of Noel and then? How did she get here? The room she now recognized as the Hasting's living room, was empty. Seemed as if she was the only person awake in this house. Aria looked around and spotted a clock hanging on one of the walls. It was already twelve o'clock. While she was still wondering about having slept for so long, Emily entered the room. She was dressed.

As Emily realized that Aria was awake, she walked over to her. "Hey, good morning."

"It's almost lunch time." Aria mumbled.

"Yes, we didn't wake you up because you really deserved some sleep. How are you doing?" asked Emily knelling down.

"Dunno. What am I doing here?" Aria answered confused.

"You don't remember getting here, Ari?"

"No, not at all. The last thing I remember is you and Spencer pulling me out of the lake, Noel threw me into. "

"Oh. You were unconscious. Toby picked us up at the lake and drove us here. You fell asleep halfway to the Hasting's house and Toby carried you to the couch, where you slept for almost…fifteen hours."

"I really can't remember anything; my head is hurting."

"It's because you swallowed so much water, I guess. How are you? Do you wanna stand up and have breakfast?"

"All in all, okay, probably. I feel kinda weak, like as if I had been ill."

"I'll help you stand up but please do it slowly, Aria. And if you're not feeling well, tell me."

"I'm okay, Em." Aria said trying to be courageous.

She sat up, uncovering herself from the blanket that was still covering her. Aria stood up slowly. Her legs felt shaky. Emily directly wrapped her arm around her to help her keep standing.

"Do you wanna sit down again? You can eat here on the couch."  
"I'm okay, Em. I really am." Aria answered. Emily still had doubts on her friend's ability to walk but let go of her. Aria walked over to the kitchen on her own, knowing that Emily was right behind her to catch her if necessary. She sat down at the Hasting's table.

"Do you wanna an aspirin or something? What about water?" Emily asked worrying about her friend. Aria nodded her head. "Thank you, Em." She was thankful for not being alone now that her head was still hurting and spinning.

"I'll be right back in a second, just keep sitting here." She said leaving for the aspirin.

Aria responded smiling:" I won't run away, don't worry. I wouldn't get far."

 **Emily:**

Emily walked over to the medicine cabinet in the bathroom, pulling out one of the small white pills. Back in the kitchen, she filled water in a glass and put it in front of Aria, sitting down next to her. Aria raised the glass to her mouth and swallowed the pill.

She didn't look very good; her face was pale. Emily thought about asking a doctor to look at her but didn't suggest it. She knew Aria would protest loudly. "Do you wanna eat something?" Emily therefor asked. Aria nodded her head. She seemed not to care if so or not. Emily stood up to put a toast with marmalade on a table. "Here." She said.

"Em?" Aria asked biting into the warm bread. "Yeah?"

"Do you think Noel wanted to…?" she couldn't continue talking. "Kill you?" Emily added.

"I don't think so. He's an asshole but he wouldn't want you to drown. Maybe he thought it was funny if we had to save you. I dunno. Main point is that you're doing better. But Aria, you should have told us that you can't swim."

"I know. I'm so glad that you pulled me back to the land stage. I thought I wouldn't make it when I couldn't keep myself above the surface anymore. There was so much water in my mouth."

"Honestly, Aria, all of us thought in a while you wouldn't make it. When we had laid you down, you didn't move at first. I would have never been able to forgive me if you…"

Just then, Spencer and Hanna appeared in the kitchen.

"Aria!" Hanna said coming over to her. "You're finally awake." She hugged her friend who was still sitting at the table.

Having talked for a while, Aria said: "Spencer, I didn't thank you. If you two hadn't been there…"

"You needn't thank us. We're all just happy that nothing worse happened. We were so worried about you. I love you, Aria." She mumbled.

Hanna who couldn't keep quiet ones again said: "Are you gay, too? Spencer, I think Toby should know about that."

"Oh, shut up. You know what I meant. You all do." Hanna nodded in agreement. Of course, she did. Even if she didn't say something now, she hadn't slept much that night, thinking about what else could have happened. She totally knew what Spencer meant but would never say that.

"My parents are coming in about two hours guys. They've been visiting my grandma together with Melissa. What of this are we gonna tell somebody?"

"Everything. Noel tried to hurt her, no matter if he thought about it or not." Emily answered directly.

She wouldn't lie about anything, she didn't have to lie about.

"Guys, dunno if you have thought about it, too." Spencer answered.

"About what, Spence?"

"Do you think Noel is A?"

Silence. Nobody knew what to answer, till Aria said:

"He could be but wouldn't him trying to drown be a little obvious? If he was A, he wouldn't…"

"Aria is right. If he was A, he would keep in the background." Emily added. Spencer nodded, maybe they were right.

"If we're being honest. Every fuckin' person could be A. Your neighbor, an 8th grader or even my grandpa." Hanna said.

"Your grandpa is dead, Han. Sorry for reminding you." Spencer joked.

"Whoops. You know what I meant. We don't even know the person hiding behind this messages for sure. None of us has ever seen A." Hanna explained.

"What if A is an old woman in a wheelchair who hates us because of whatever?" Aria said laughing.

"If we exclude the seniors and say A is from rosewood, there are still 6.000 people." Spencer meant. "Guessing who it is, is almost impossible. We don't have any clues."

"We could have." Aria mentioned. Everybody in the room turned around to her confused.

"What?" Hanna asked.

"Do you remember this message, I received some weeks ago?"

"Which one out of the hundreds?" Hanna laughed.

"I'm being serious, Han. The one that was stuck into a dolls head with a knife. Not to mention that this doll looked exactly like Alison and was by the way sitting in my trunk."

"Okay, I remember. Don't freak out." Hanna said wanting her to keep calm.

"Don't you think A wanted to show us that she killed Alison?" Aria asked.

"Or he or it." Spencer answered.

"Spencer! It's not about the pronoun, don't you get it? A is leaving clues- if wanted or not. All we have to do is follow them!"

Spencer sighed. "A never makes mistakes. What if it's nothing but a trap?"

"What if it's the only thing we have to figure out to end this?" Emily returned Spencer's question.

"Figure out what?" Hanna asked, not understanding their friends.

"If A killed Ali." Aria explained to her.

"How does knowing more about Alison's dead help us?" Emily asked.

"Whenever somebody dies unexplained, there's a post-mortem examination. After that the pathology writes an autopsy report. Examining the corpse can give clues. In Alison's case, they could probably see, with what she was hit and from which height: Man, or woman, weapon."

"You wanna break into the mortuary and steal the autopsy report to identify A?" Emily concluded almost screaming. "All sure you hadn't a big oxygen loss because this idea sounds as if you had completely driven crazy."

"Em." Spencer said. "It's the only option we have."

"Don't say you agree with her. You always have another option." Emily said.

"Which is in our case, letting A continue. If you don't join, I'm gonna do this alone because I won't let A win." Answered Aria, jumping up. She directly reached for her head. "Ouch."

"Aria, are you okay?" Emily asked standing next to her. "I am." Aria responded. "Just got up to fast."

Spencer sighed again. "I don't think you're going to do anything on your own today, Aria. You can barely stand."

"Today?" Emily asked shocked, letting go of Aria who fell back onto her chair. "Sorry, Ari." Em mumbled. "I just didn't expect that."

"Neither did I." Hanna admitted. "If Aria is out, means our turn, right?" she asked designated.

"I'm not out. I'll be totally fine this evening, guys." Aria said.

"Oh, shut up, Aria. You know you won't. You can stay home and give us in alibi if we are being caught." Spencer answered.

"You're joking, aren't you? I'll never in a lifetime break into a mortuary to steal my dead friend's autopsy report!" Emily responded, shaking her head.

Later this day:

 **Spencer:**

Spencer, Emily and Hanna stood in front of a building whose lack was already peeling off. Spencer took a flashlight out and turned it on. The Cole of light lightened her face which made shadows appear under her eyes.

She was whispering although there was nobody who could have heard them:

"Guys. Ready to go? All wearing your gloves?" Hanna nodded, so did Emily but way less confident than her friend. She didn't want to do that.

They started sneaking closer to the building that lay in front of them in the dark. Suddenly Spencer heard a weird sound. _Klick, Clack, Klick, Clack._ She turned around, not willing to believe her eyes.

"Hanna? Are you kidding me? You aren't wearing heels, are you?"

"You said black shoes and these are the only ones I own. And by the way you could really value that I'm ruining my favorite 9 centimeters for breaking into this mortuary-thing."

"Uggh. How do you wanna climb through a ventilation shaft? Don't say bar feet now, then we could directly leave our business cards in there. This isn't any kind of fun. If we're getting caught, stealing strictly confidential documents about an unsolved crime, it's the last time you're wearing heels because then you can wear orange overalls. We all can."

"I'm sorry for not being a professional robber."

"You're the only one out of us that has ever stolen something." Emily reminded her.

"We are talking about handbags and stuff. Furthermore, I was wearing heels, whenever I did. Seems more grown up, you know?"

"Just that we now don't want to seem alike anything because if we do, means that someone has seen us." Spencer added.

During their conversation, they had reached the building. "You must wait her, Han. Whistle when someone is coming or you hear anything scary. Steps or something. Make no noise, otherwise and try not to be seen." Spencer told her friend trying to sound strict. Hopefully Hanna was taking this serious enough. While Emily lifted Spencer up and she crack opened the ventilation shaft, Aria was somewhere else.

 **Aria:**

"I always get to see you in the weirdest situations. Last time you were here, you were soaking wet and this time it's even weirder." Aria nodded her head, laying on Ezra's couch. She totally understood, what he meant. "I anyway wanted to see you." She responded.

"Oh, so you're not only coming because Noel almost drowned you and you don't wanna your mother to worry about more stuff than her's and your dad's problems."

"You aren't mad, are you?"

"No, not at all. You should have called me directly."

"I couldn't. I fell asleep on the way to Spencer and anyway, my phone sucks because it got wet."

"If I could, I'd get to him and punch him right into his face. How could he?"

"If you weren't his English teacher, I'd maybe even let you." She said smiling.

"So, what are we gonna do tonight?" he said, changing the subject.

"What about a movie?"

"Is your head better because otherwise you shouldn't watch tv. I could also read something out to you."

"Ezra. You sound like my dad."

"I do because you're lying on my couch, unable to move more than one way to the toilet and couldn't even get upstairs some minutes ago, remember?"

"Halfway."

"Aria, I'm just worried about you."

"I know, Ezra. Maybe we choose the reading thing."

"Okay, which book?"

"I don't care which book, as long as you read it. Your choice."

He lay down next to her so that she could cuddle up to him and began to read. Aria was too done to listen but loved lying here with him. She just lay down on his chest, listening to the sound of his deep voice.

He knew she didn't listen but continued reading because he wanted her to feel comfy and as if he didn't.

 **Spencer:**

Emily and Spencer had finally made their way through the tiny shaft and were now standing in a dark room.

"Spencer, do we have to? This is scary, I can't see anything. "

"Wait, here's a light switch." It took some time but then the room lightened. Spencer could hear Emily's breath getting faster. They were surrounded by tables, covered with white blankets.

"Are these corpses?" Emily whispered without any sound although she already knew the answer.

"Don't think about it, Em.

They must keep the document in the cupboard over there. Come with me."

As Spencer reached for Emily's hand, she pulled back. Her hand was ice cold and sweating.

"Hey, Em. We're gonna hurry up. You needn't do anything. Let me do it." She said realizing how afraid Emily was of this situation. She nodded her head thankful, wrapping her arms around her body to keep warm. It was cold in here but probably that was a good thing. At least she didn't want to think about what would happen, if it wasn't.

Spencer walked to the metal cupboard on the other side of the room. The different drawers were marked with signs, giving the letters of the people, whose document were inside. She opened the one, saying D to J. Her finger scanned it for Di. Di Laurentis, Alison. There it was.

Spencer pulled the hardcovered collection of documents out and returned to Emily who hadn't moved a centimeter. "Got it." She said, not knowing if she was happy about having found it or not.

Spence opened it, looking for the summary to not have to read all the details. Even she wouldn't understand them. She pulled out the last page and read it out loud:

 _Summary of autopsy report: Di Laurentis, Alison_

She scanned the text for useful information:

 _The corpse shows traces of a strong stroke on the posterior hemisphere. Damaged cranium, causing internal injuries. The force applied to such injuries could lead to a male aggressor but as the hit came from a height of only 1.65 the pathology suspects a woman._

Spencer pulled an attached x-ray photograph and some other pictures out. She held them into the light, so that Emily saw them. The pictures showed Alison's corpse, covered with mud and blood lying on the ground.

That was too much for Emily. She choked and when Spencer turned around to check if she was okay, she vomited into a trash can, standing beside her.

Spencer held her hair back as she hung over the trash can.

"Oh my god, Em. I shouldn't have forced you to get here."

"It's not your fault. These pictures were just way too much for me." She mumbled, standing up slowly.

"Are you okay?"

"Dunno. Can we just leave this place, please?"

"Of course. But what do we do with your vomit?" Spencer asked.

Emily's face was pale and her appearance made Spencer fear that she would have to throw up again. "I'll call Hanna, she'll help you get out here. I'm cleaning this up." Spencer said, leading Emily to the shaft.

"Hanna?" Spencer said, talking only as loud as necessary.  
"Yes?" Hanna answered from the other side of the shaft. "You have to climb here, heels or not. We've got a problem." Hanna did as she was told to. Spencer could hear her noises when she crawled her way through the shaft. While Spencer waited for Hanna to appear, Emily sank down on the ground. She was sick and being surrounded by corpses, didn't improve it.

Finally, Spencer could see one of Hanna's legs getting in. As she had reached the room, she stared at Emily and then at the trash can.

"God, Em." Hanna said worried. Emily leaned against the stone wall, only now Spencer recognized that she also had vomited on her T-shirt.

Hanna knelt next to her. "You've to listen now, Em. Can you walk?"

Emily hiked her shoulders but then nodded her head. Hanna took her hand and pulled her up. Walking to the shaft, Emily leaned on Hanna. Standing in front of it, Hanna turned around.

"Spencer? How the hell shall she get through this thing now?"

Spencer joined them and the two managed to help Emily into the shaft.

 **Hanna:**

On their way back out, the shaft seemed even tinier and longer than the first time. Crawling through it with heels wasn't easy at all but crawling through it with heels and a friend who had just vomited, was a disaster. She could see, Emily slowly moving forwards in front of her.

As she finally reached the end of the tunnel, Emily had already got out of it. She sat on the ground, waiting for Hanna.

"What happened in there?" Hanna asked carefully.

"We…We found these pictures of Ali's corps." She mumbled. "I suddenly had to throw up."

"Keep sitting here, Em. I'll be right back in a sec."

Hanna went to her car which stood only some feet away from them. She opened the trunk and pulled a T-shirt out of a shopping bag. She then decided to also take a jacket with her, locked her car and returned to Emily.

"Here, you can wear these." She said, handling them to her.

"Did I vomit on my T-shirt?" Emily asked spiritless. Hanna nodded.

"Doesn't matter, Emily. I'll help you get undressed."

She peeled the T-shirt of her friend's body, trying to not touch it if possible. Usually, Hanna would have made a comment about it because she found doing this really disgusting. Knowing that Emily wasn't doing well, she suppressed it.

Emily dressed Hanna's T-shirt and Hanna put the jacket around her shoulders. "Han, what if I ruin your clothes? Were they expensive?"

"Burberry. But actually, not because I stole them, so right outfit for our current action."

"Hanna." Emily said sighing.

"You should be glad about me having done this because otherwise you'd still wear yours which I don't think you'd prefer."

Emily nodded her head, getting up slowly. "Wait, I'll unlock the car." Hanna said and pulled her remote control out. "Are you okay with walking?"

"Yes, I am. Just needed some fresh air."

They sat down, waiting for Spencer to appear. "What is she doing in there? Camping?" Hanna said ironic.

"Actually, Spencer was fascinated by all these medicinal reports. Maybe she is checking some other documents, too."

"As long as she doesn't check the corpses. Sorry, Em."

"It's okay, don't apologize all the time."

Just then, Spencer crawled out of the shaft and jumped down. She ran over to the car and sat down on the backseat. "

"Hanna, drive." She said, still trying to catch her breath and Hanna hit the gas pedal. As the car drove off jerkily, the tires creaked on the asphalt.

Spencer sighed. "Could you drive a little more careful because if not, I can't guarantee that Emily will be the only person having vomited by the end of the day."

"Instead of criticizing my driving qualities, tell us what you did in there for half an infinity."

"Guys, don't argue." Emily said conciliatorily.

"We didn't read the whole summary, before you threw up, Em. Dunno if talking about it now is a good idea. Do you wanna hear it?"

"I do. But don't show me any further pictures." She responded hesitating.

"Okay, I'll read the last sentence out:

 _By the point of dead, there was dirt in the corpse's lung._ "

"What does that mean?" Emily said not understanding what Spencer had read out.

"Alison must have breath dirt." Spencer mumbled, not willing to say it straight out.

"I don't get it." Emily answered.

"Me neither." Hanna added.

"Alison was buried alive." She explained, without considering her friend's faces.

Nobody said something.

The only thing, breaking the silence, was the rumbling of the engine.


	10. Fat?

**Aria:**

It was already very late and the sun dawn long time ago, as Ezra finished reading out by closing the book.

"Time to sleep now." He whispered into her ear. She shook her head, not willing to move down his chest. "Continue, just a little further."

"I know, you didn't even listen. You've almost fallen asleep, after the capture."

Aria yawned, he was right. She forced herself to sit up.  
"Wanna me to help you?" he asked, stroking her back. "I'm fine, Ezra. But thank you." She mumbled, standing up slowly. She walked over to his bedroom and lay down on the bed. While Ezra closed the curtains, and turned the lights of, Aria cuddled up in the warm blanket. It smelled alike his aftershave. She felt Ezra getting into the bed and he soon wrapped his arm around her.

"Sleep well." He said quietly. "I love you."

"You, too." Aria answered, almost soundless. It didn't take long, until both had fallen asleep.

 **Emily:**

Leaning her head against the cold window, made Emily calm down in some way. What she had just heard was shocking and she didn't know if she even wanted to understand what Alison's dead must have looked like. Thinking of it, her hand instinctively reached for her chest, just to feel the breath making it get up and down.

"Are you okay?" Spencer's voice from the backseat sounded as if she was miles away, Emily nodded her head. No matter if she was or not, she didn't want to talk about it. Or her. About all of it in general.

Hanna's fingers were holding the steering-wheel tensely, forcing herself to focus on the road. She couldn't think about what Spencer had said right now, otherwise she would risk the car drifting away from the street. She couldn't lose her self-control now that she was steering a car in which not only she but also two of her best friends sat.

Hanna didn't know if she found it rather disgusting, creepy or brutal. Maybe a mixture of all the adjectives used in the plots of horror movies together would describe what knowing that felt alike. Knowing that somebody had buried Alison during she was breathing.

It was the kind of dead, children have nightmares about and wake up crying in the middle of the night. The kind of dead, parents tell you, you won't have because that wasn't possible. If A had buried her? If she had seen her face before her lungs sucked at being lungs? If Alison was awake or already unconscious from the hit on her head? Hopefully she was, Hanna thought.

Unimportant how awful Alison had been to her while she was alive, she didn't deserve that. Nobody did. Or?

"What have we done that A hates us so much? What has Ali done that A did that to her? How can somebody feel so much hate?" Hanna said rather angry than sad. Spencer shook her head.

"A is crazy. Somebody who is aware of doing this, must be crazy."  
"I don't understand it." Emily mumbled, suppressing to cry. "I don't understand why she deserved that. Why?"

"Emily. You don't because she didn't. I have no explanation why somebody would do this." Spencer admitted.

"Deep inside, I always hoped she would be alive. I thought she would've left and gone to a better place than Rosewood. I imagined her sitting at the beach on an island, laughing about how everybody thought she was dead." Emily said, staring out of the window into the nowhere.

"Then they found her body. I couldn't believe it, probably I didn't believe it till today. Till I saw these pictures. They were so far away from everything I remembered her to be." She mumbled.

From where she sat, Spencer could see Emily's mirror image. Tears were running down her face.

"We should remember her the way she was for us." Spencer said trying to stay calm. "Not the way her dead was."  
 **Hanna:**

Hanna's fingers held the steering-wheel even tidier, how did she remember Alison? Maybe she should remember her as the girl who stopped her from eating to compress feelings. That wasn't what she had done. She had also done much worse things, none of the others knew about.

Things that changed Hanna as a person.

If she should give an exact point her childhood felt over, it was probably when Alison stuck her finger into her throat to make her throw up. That was it, Hanna remembered whenever she thought of her. And the comments she made. She could see her literally in front of her, staring at the cookie in her hand. Hanna wasn't sure if any of the girls knew how much Alison's comments hurt her. Remembering all the nights, Hanna had cried herself into a restless sleep, finding her own body disgusting and being caught in it, she felt her fingernails pressing into the soft material of the steering-wheel.

The thing about eating to compress feelings was that if you don't eat, these feelings are still there and you've got nothing to get rid of them. They're everywhere and don't let go of you, not a single minute. Hanna always felt like she was the worst in the group, Alison had assembled around her. There was Emily- the school's best swimmer, Alison- the most popular girl, Aria- the most beautiful one out of the five, Spencer- the A-student and yes, then there was she. Neither sporty, beautiful, popular nor intelligent.

Looking back, Hanna thought, Alison had used her. She wanted exactly this kind of girl, admiring her for everything. She wanted her to be there because then she felt even better. That was her function, Hanna thought. Being the worst to make the best seem even better.

Concentrating on not saying anything that could hurt Emily, Hanna bit her lip. She was lost in her thoughts, practically driving automatically without watching the street.

Honestly, she hated Alison. Strong word. But that was what it felt like. Maybe she deserved feeling cruelty on her own body, maybe she fuckin' deserved being the victim ones in her entire glamorous life, Hanna thought.

If she would be alone now, Hanna would stop the car in a nervous-breakdown but now she had to pull herself together. She wasn't far away from freaking out. Biting her lip let some blood pour into her mouth, she could taste it.

Not focusing on the street or where they were going, Hanna missed the exit. Spencer sighed: "Hanna, you missed the exit. Can't you concentrate?"

Hanna indicated and stopped the car abrupt on a rest area. She removed her seat belt.  
"Hey. What are you doing?" Spencer asked.

"If you always know everything better, why don't you drive?" she jumped out of the car, the door snap shut behind her.  
"Shit." Spencer mumbled. "Was it tactless?"

Emily nodded her head. "A little. It was exhausting for all of us, maybe you shouldn't have commented it. I know you didn't mean to make her angry but she might be sensible right now."

"I'm gonna look if she's okay." Spencer said, getting out of the car.

Hanna had run over to the toilets. She was so angry that she punched against the mirror. After Alison was dead, everybody acted as if she had been nice and kind. Why did nobody tell the truth? The truth was that she had been a selfish bitch.

Hanna's mobile phone rang. She pulled it out, reading the message on her display.

 _Poor Hanna, nobody understands you. You needn't feel alike. -A_

She knew what was meant, it was the sentence Alison had said to her before making her throw up. Throwing her mobile phone against a wall, she felt her eyes welling up with tears but didn't want to cry. She didn't want to feel weak, now.

Hanna heard somebody knocking against the door she had locked behind her.

"Hanna? Are you in there?"

Spencer. She didn't want to answer because she didn't want to see her. Sometimes it felt better not to talk at all. To anyone. Hanna knew that if she would talk to Spencer, she would have to cry. Therefor she just kept quiet and sank down onto the floor.

"I know you're in there. Please, open the door. It's me. Spencer." That's why I don't open it, Hanna thought. Spencer wouldn't understand her anyway.

She heard steps on the other side of the door and then Emily's voice whispering, she still understood her. Emily told Spencer to leave and hearing somebody walk away, meant she had. Hanna heard a car door snap shutting.  
Then Emily said carefully: "May I come in?"

Hanna didn't know if she wanted to see her but because she would rather listen to her than Spencer and anyway not leave until the door was open, she stood up unlocking the door.  
"You can." Hanna said turning her back to the door. Emily stepped in.

"Hanna, are you okay?" Emily asked from behind. Although she wasn't at all, Hanna nodded her head.

"I overreacted." She lied to not have to explain anything. "I'm probably just tired, whatever. We can continue driving. I'll concentrate now."

"I know you're lying."

"No, I am not."

"Then why are you standing backwards to me in a toilet cabin?"

Hanna turned around and looked at her, forcing herself to look well-doing.

"So, we can go then. Sorry for wasting your time." Hanna mumbled, wanting to walk among Emily back to the car. She held her back, reaching for her arm.

"Just because you run away, doesn't mean things change. I'm experienced in running away and it simply doesn't help."

"I said, I'm okay, believe me. And I'm not running away but returning to a car. Like I said, I overreacted." Hanna snapped and pulled her arm back. Of course, running away didn't help but explaining her emotional outburst wasn't possible. What should she say? I got out of the car to not freak out in front of you? Or Alison scares me even if she is dead? Thinking of that, Hanna opened the car and sat down on the driver seat.

"Hanna." Spencer said looking at her. "Don't say anything. Just don't." Hanna mumbled, waited for Emily to return and drove the two home without saying a further word.

As she reached her house, she kept sitting in the car for a moment. She was already kind of sorry for having shouted at her friends. No, she hadn't shouted at them. Maybe giving them the feeling of having made a mistake, without shouting at them was even worse. They hadn't even made a mistake, just been there in the wrong moment. Maybe also said something without having thought about. Since Alison's corpse was found, Hanna hadn't cried about her dead. Not once. She had told herself, she couldn't cry because it was too early. But now, she thought, she hadn't cried because she was happy about that her torture was over. Although it sounded bad, when you express it alike, it was true. Alison's dead had freed her from feeling fat and not-needed.

As her friend, I should be sad about her death. At least sorry. But I'm not even sure if we ever were friends. If Alison was able to connect with somebody, if she was able to have friends because being able to have friends presupposes having feelings. Maybe she had some but then she was good at hiding them.

Hanna sighed, pulling her car key off and leaving it to walk over to the house which was already dark- her mum had gone to bed. Better this way, Hanna thought.

She always realizes when I'm not doing well and I don't wanna talk about it. Not even with her.

Hanna unlocked the front door, without making any sounds, sneaked upstairs and lay down on her bed. She didn't undress herself but went to bed in her clothes. She wasn't tired, rather exhausted but wanted to stop thinking about all this stuff. Hanna closed her eyes.

It took a long time until she finally fell asleep.

The next morning:

As Hanna's alarm clock rang, she felt as if she hadn't slept at all. Considering the mirror made her realize that she also looked alike. "I look like a zombie." She mumbled, straightening her hair.  
Because she didn't want her mum or anybody who wasn't involved yet to ask anything, she still got dressed, used makeup and went downstairs.

Ashley Marin was busy talking to a client on her mobile phone, when Hanna entered she waved and left the kitchen. Her daughter looked tired, it must have been late last night. She decided not to say something because Hanna was currently in the age she loved being out with her friends long.

Hanna sat down at the table, putting some Choco pops into her bowl. Although she wasn't hungry, she still started to eat. When she just raised the first spoon to her mouth, her mobile phone rang. _Beep, Beep._

Probably it was Mona who she drove to school with. Hanna pulled it out of her handbag on the chair next to her and unlocked it. Not Mona.

 _Really wanna eat that? Don't want you to get fat. -A_ Hanna sighed, putting her phone back into the bag. Another sentence Alison had said to her. The more of these messages she received, the more she thought about who A could be. She had been alone with Alison when they had talked about that. Both times. But Alison was dead, she couldn't send her text messages, could she?

Hanna didn't feel like eating anymore, so she opened the trash ban and threw her breakfast into it. She reached for her back and left the house.

At school:

Hanna hesitated to walk into the building because she didn't know what to talk about with her friends. She had driven to school on her own today because Mona would have made a comment about her looking awful.

Just then, she heard Mona's voice behind her.

"Hanna!" she called her enthusiastic as always. Because she had no chance to act as if she hadn't heard her, Hanna turned around.  
"Oh, I didn't see you." She said.

"Me neither. Are you okay?"

"Of course, why do you ask?"

"You don't look as if. Sorry."

"Just haven't slept much because I watched this tv show till late."

"Oh, okay. Then let's get in. Have you heard the newest rumors?"

"There're more rumors than students at this school, which exactly do you mean?"

"Don't tell anyone but they say that this English teacher has a thing going on with one of his students."

"Which English teacher?"

"Mr. Fitz of course, who else?"

"That's crap, Mona."

"Don't say that. I mean, he's young and sexy, not that impossible."

"There were also rumors about Kimberley being a boy last year. Wasn't true either."

"Says who? I didn't check if she has one?"

"What?"

"A dildo, Hanna."

"Shut up, you know it wasn't true. You just wanna have something to gossip about." Said Hanna and walked away from Mona. How did people get that Ezra had something going on with a student? She would have to warn Aria. No matter if it would be embarrassing to talk to her friends. They were still her friends.

Hanna knew that they had the first lesson together. She hurried up to get to the classroom before the teacher arrived so that she could talk to them. The girls were standing in front of Emily's locker, talking to each other.

 **Aria:**

Aria, Spencer and Emily were standing in front of the lockers talking about the outcome of yesterday's night. It was shocking for Aria to hear how Alison died but now that they were hunting A she was rather interested in it.

As Spencer had started to explain the clues that were given about A in the autopsy report, Aria saw Hanna walking over to them.

"Guys." Hanna said. Nobody knew what to say, so Hanna just continued. "We gotta talk. Mona came over to me and after having chatted about the usual stuff, she asked me if I knew about the new rumors."

"What rumors?" Spencer said, expecting the worst.

"That Mr. Fitz has something going on with one of his students."

"But how? We never did anything at school." Aria said shocked about the news.

"Maybe it's just a rumor and not more than that. At least he's the youngest teacher at school." Emily answered trying to find an explanation.

"What if not? Do you think A gave some clues to anyone?" Spencer whispered.

"I dunno but I have to talk to him. He has to know." Aria answered, lifting her back up and left, dialing his number.

"I gotta go." Hanna mumbled, feeling uncomfortable with Spencer and Emily.  
"Hanna, you needn't explain anything if you don't want to. We totally understand you, it's been difficult for all of us to deal with this situation." Spencer admitted.

"No. That's the thing, Spence. You don't understand me because there's been so much stuff between me and Alison going on, I didn't tell any of you about."

"Why didn't you?" Emily asked.

"Come on, be honest. We all have secrets only Alison knew about. These things are embarrassing and no, you wouldn't understand them. I'm ashamed when I only think about them."

"I think, we have to be honest with each other. Otherwise it's easier for A to split us apart." Spencer said and they knew, she was right.

"What about missing first to hours and talk about it? I also have things, I must talk about. Because keeping them secret, kills me." Emily mumbled.

"Wrong metaphor." Hanna said.

"Honestly, me too. Probably worse things than you." Spencer said. "Let's pick Aria up and leave before the PE teacher arrives.

And so, they did. It was the first time, Spencer Hastings missed a lesson without being deadly ill and it wouldn't be the last one.


	11. Untold stories

**In a café in rosewood:**

The four girls sat at a table in the corner, not knowing how to begin. It was a weird situation.

"I feel as if I was at the therapist." Hanna mumbled, playing with the spoon in the coffee cup in front of her.

"So, who is gonna begin?" Spencer asked.  
Silence. Her question had made the situation even weirder. "Okay, I'm at the therapist." Hanna added.

"I can." Aria said, wanting her part to be over as soon as possible. "Actually, I told you mostly everything. There was just one thing, Alison knew. We had been eating ice cream and then saw my father kissing Meredith. She promised not to tell anyone but she often used it against me to make me behave, the way she wanted me to. After A revealed it to my mother, I thought she'd still be alive. But these pictures prove, she isn't. She was the first person that knew about it and I told you about it after her dead."

Hanna sighed. "Okay, so mine is different." She could hardly not begin to talk, not willing her friends to judge her. "I can't." she whispered.

"Hanna, it's okay."

"So, when I was heavier, my parents had argued very badly. I was sad and angry and I also felt as if it was my fault that they weren't in love with each other anymore. I…ate a lot and then cried because I felt bad about it. I wanted to compress these feelings but eating had made it even worse." She stocked.

"As I sat there crying in front of the plate, Alison suddenly entered the kitchen. I tried to hide the plate but she had already seen it. I was so desperate that I thought she would be kind and trying to help me. She said, I wouldn't have to feel alike and she…she could show me how to get rid of it.

She helped me throw up. I did this a couple of times, whenever I had eaten more than I should." Hanna couldn't watch her friends, she was ashamed.

"Alison always made comments about me being fat. It destroyed me, I couldn't watch the mirror because what I saw made me feel disgusting. Honestly, I still have problems with watching the mirror. Ever since she made me throw up, I couldn't eat without counting the calories. She knew, I felt like the worst of us, that's why she said those things to me. And anyway, she was right…"

"Hanna. We didn't know that. It's so dangerous, you should have talked to us." Aria said, shocked about it.

"Aria, one year ago, none of you had any problems. Neither with yourselves, nor with your families or at school. And then there was me. Fat and parents who were just divorcing. You wouldn't have understood me. I know that's what you thought of me. I was fat."

"We didn't Hanna. None of us did. Alison made you feel this way but I wasn't true. You don't do this anymore, do you?" Emily asked.

"Haven't done it in a while." Hanna mumbled.

"I can't believe she did this. Never say again that you aren't worth it, Hanna. You're." Spencer said hugging her.

"Can we…we just continue with somebody else?" Hanna asked, still ashamed of the situation.

"You know that the stuff with your parents wasn't your fault now, don't you? Just because we behaved as if, doesn't mean we hadn't. I had."

Spencer said nodding her head. "My turn." Hanna couldn't imagine anything that could have gone wrong in Spencer's live. She was almost curious to hear it.

"The night, Alison disappeared. You remember that I woke up and you didn't?"

"Of course, we do." Aria answered.

"Don't freak out now. I woke up for a certain reason. This time, I felt so worthless and tired and needed something to stand all the pressure my parents made me feel. I had so many things to do that I didn't have time to sleep. I was looking for something to keep me awake. I found something.

I woke up because I was on speed. It makes you feel awake and need less sleep. Don't tell me I shouldn't have taken it, I know. But I had no option.

When I saw that Alison was gone, I left the room, too. I saw her. We had an argument, she told me to go back to bed and sleep. But I was angry and raised a shovel that lay on the ground."

"You didn't hit her with it, did you?" Aria said not believing her ears.

"I couldn't remember if I had or not the next morning. That was the true reason why I wanted to break into the mortuary. I needed to be able to exclude myself from having murdered her. I was on drugs, I couldn't have said for sure what I did and why. But after having read that the hit came from a person that was 1.65, I knew it wasn't me. I am almost 1.8."

"Did you take so many of these pills, you couldn't remember a few hours?" Emily asked.

"Honestly probably, yes. I took many. I could have been wherever in this night, I didn't remember anything within seeing her, arguing and then waking you up some time later. There's this gap."

"Spence, you should have told us."

"I couldn't risk anything. If the police knew about it, they could charge me of murder in the first degree. I touched the shovel but it wasn't me. Now, I know. I couldn't tell you, before knowing that for sure."

"Spencer, you thought you'd have killed Alison, all the time!?"

"At first not but A made me think that." Spencer admitted.

"But why did you take drugs? They have so many side effects. I didn't even realize you were on drugs." Aria said remembering the day Alison disappeared.

"I always drank caffeine, much of it. I think in 7th grade or something, I started drinking coffee and coke because I loved the taste. Later I drank it not just because it tasted well but also because I got used to always having a certain caffeine level. No matter how few I'd slept, I could be awake next morning. But any when, coffee and stuff wasn't enough anymore.

Being a Hasting's means if you do something, you must be the best. They aren't proud of me when I do my best, I have no other choice than being the best. The thing is, they aren't even proud if I'm, they just take me being the best for granted. It's so exhausting, to always have to win."

"How few did you sleep that you took so many of them?" Emily asked staring at her.

"The time I took them was about two weeks. I usually sleep about six hours maximum but this time I didn't sleep at all in three days. Only as much as I had to."

"How did you even get them?" Aria asked.

"I had my contacts."

"What contacts, Spence? I don't know anybody who sells speed."

"It's because you never took them." She mumbled.

"It wasn't the first time, was it?"

She shook her head.

"When?" Hanna asked.

"Remember me being ill for some days in year 8?" Spencer responded with a question.

"Are you still addicted to them?"

"No. But if took them again, I'd probably develop an addiction easier than any of you."

"So, when you saw Alison. How did she react?"

"She was surprised of me being awake. I don't know why. Like I said, I remember not that many details. Alison wanted to go anywhere, I guess. She seemed to be leaving, as I saw her."

"What was this argument about?"

"That's so many questions, guys. Also, I can't remember much of it. She told me to return to my bed and I freaked out for always being asked to obey. I overreacted. She said, I'd never be able to beat her and turned around. That's when I raised the shovel but apart from that there's nothing I can remember. Dunno if she left before I did or the other way around. I don't even know if we were alone out there. It's so awful to not remember hours of your life."

"At least it wasn't you who killed her. But who do we know who is 1.65? It's pretty little, isn't it?" Hanna asked.

"It's not." Aria snapped.

"So, Hanna, Emily and I are all bigger than 1.75." Spencer smiled looking at Aria.

"I'm not little." She answered.

"Which size are you?" Hanna grinned.

"Okay maybe, maybe I am. Don't tell anyone but I'm 1.5 if you forget about one and a half centimeters."

"That's got lots of advantages, also. Like producing your clothes doesn't waste so many resources. Plus, you fit on couches without your legs hanging on the ground." Spencer added.

"Funny, Spence. Forgetting about that I can barely see above a steering-wheel and that I can't take any things of regals, it's awesome to be little. Did I forget that if I'm honest, I'm not allowed to enter any roller coasters and have to show my passport to watch movies for twelve-year old's?"

"Hey, sorry. We were just kidding. I never thought you would be too little." Spencer said.

"That's because I wear nine centimeters' at school."

"You do? How can you walk on them?" Hanna mumbled.

"I rather walk on them than be half a meter littler than Noel Kahn. That's disgusting. I'm only seventy-five percent of his height."

"But two-hundred percent of his character. Height is just a number, being big comes from inside." Spencer said, hugging her friends.

"Aww, Spence that was cute." Aria answered.

"Guys." Emily interrupted them caressing each other. "By the way, I also needed to tell you something."

"Oh, sorry, Em. That was tactless." Spencer mumbled blushing. "We are listening to you."

"Honestly, Alison was always nice to me. Not nice in a way that a kid is nice. But in comparison, what she did to you, she was. I, actually really liked her."

"It's okay if you liked her, Em. She probably could also be nice." Aria admitted.

"No. It's not. That's the problem. Looking back, I'm sometimes not sure if she liked me or just acted as if because she knew it."

"Knew what?"

"That I'm gay. It's nothing that you suddenly develop. You don't wake up and think: Oh my god. I'm gay.

It's rather that you get it piece by piece, the older you get. At first, I really liked Ben or just thought it. It felt good to be with him and he could make me laugh.

But I felt something else, when I was with somebody else. I any when knew that I would never feel alike with Ben. That made me think, it was about him. He wouldn't work with me. It wasn't." she stopped talking.

"It was because he had something hanging down there." Hanna whispered, making Emily blush.

"What did you want to say before Hanna was being…Hanna?" Spencer said smiling at her.

"Later, I knew that girls turned me on and not boys but I didn't _really_ know it. I never thought about me being different, until I met her."

"Who?" Spencer asked, wanting her to continue.

"Alison." Emily mumbled, staring at the table.

"Oh." Aria whispered. "You had a crush on Alison?"

"More than a crush."

"God, Em. How hard it must have been to lose her without being able to tell her." Spencer said.

"Ugh. Honestly, I think she knew it before I did. She had this ability to see things in people, nobody else saw. I don't know how she got it but she did."

"Did she hurt you? Made you do things you didn't want to?"

Emily blushed again. "Actually, not. She did something else. She… kissed me."

"She what?" Hanna shouted. Other guests turned around to them. Hanna looked back down and repeated herself a lot quieter.

"She did what?"

"Kiss me." Emily mumbled.

"Why?" Aria asked. "Did she know you were into her and wanted to hurt you?"

"Again no. She…we did it more than once. It was the only times, I felt like seeing the real version of herself. The one she never showed to anyone, it felt so real." Emily admitted.

"Alison wasn't gay, was she? I never saw her hooking up with a girl." Spencer said shocked.

"Actually, I never saw her hook up with anyone. I didn't even know if she ever did. Certainly, she did but never talked about it with me." Aria answered.

"Alison never shared parts of her life with any of us. Okay, with the three of us. She knew all of our secrets but did you know anything about her till yet?" Hanna asked.

The others shook their heads.

"She wasn't gay." Emily interrupted them. "I think, she was bisexual. Made out with any gender."

"Was it just kissing or were you really close?" Hanna asked another question.

"Just kissing. I was still with Ben but I honestly lo…" her voice broke.

Aria stroke her friend's back, not knowing what to say.

"She had played with my feelings before but that time she didn't." Emily continued.

"How can you say that for sure?" Spencer asked, still having doubts.

"Because whenever she hurt one of us, she never risked being hurt. She never risked that somebody could play with her feelings alike she played with everybody else's."

"I never understood how somebody could not feel at all. "Hanna mentioned.

"I have thought about her, me and her and me so many times after her body was found.

I think, she never showed feelings because they make you vulnerable. They make you vulnerable because they matter.

I don't get why she showed her feelings to me but maybe because we shared a secret. None of us could have hurt one another without hurting himself as well."

"Did you ever talk about it to her?" Aria asked.

"Not that much because we didn't have to. Words would have ruined what we had. I'm sure, we had something. Maybe she didn't care about me as much as I did about her. But if she wouldn't have cared, she could have used it against me. She didn't. She never did.

That's why I miss her so much.

I don't miss the Alison who was competitive and rude. I miss her as the person, I saw when she kissed me. It was the first time since knowing her that I really had the feeling as if I saw her personality.  
I would give so much about seeing her again. Her as a person."

"Em, don't ever stop to believe that she did. I knew she had a different side, I wish she'd have been honest to any of us. "Spencer said.

"The day, they found her, I wished she would have never kissed me. It made everything worse about it. That's what I meant when I said it was killing me.

I wake up in the middle of the night because I dream of her. At first it was nightmares but since some time, I dream of us. Me and her kissing for the first time. I didn't lose a friend that night. She made me realize who I am and I loved her. I truly did. I could never tell her how much because when I was finally brave enough to do so, she disappeared."

"I'm so sorry for that. I didn't expect you to…" Aria admitted. Nobody said anything.

Not because they didn't know what but because words couldn't get her back. Sometimes talking doesn't help.

That's what people mean when they say silence is golden. Silence is also some kind of understanding, you can't express in words.


	12. CrAsh

**Aria:**

It's been some days since the girls revealed their secrets to each other.

Aria lay sat on her bed and checked her mails when her mum knocked the door and came in.

"Hey, darling. Do you have some time?"

Expecting her mother to talk about her father, Aria directly answered: "Yes, of course. What's the matter?"

"I just thought we could invite some people at the weekend for a barbecue: We haven't for a long time. What do you think?"

"Yeah, good idea. Why are you asking?"

"Because I thought about inviting Mr. Fitz, I know he's your English teacher and this might be weird for you but he's also my colleague and seems to not have many friends. I thought it would be nice if I invited him."

"I…Yes, I'm okay with that. Just do it."

"All sure? You seemed to be hesitating?"

"No, fine. Invite him." Said Aria. What she thought was: Shit, how am I gonna survive that evening. She couldn't disagree because she didn't want her mother to ask why. Probably the rumors had also reached her because when there's anything rumors reach, then it's many people.

Her mother left the room, leaving Aria with a bad feeling behind. She texted Ezra and asked him if he had time to talk.

She received the answer a couple of seconds later.

"Sure. Wanna come over to me tonight?"

"Yes, I'd love to."

Telling her mother, she'd go to a party with the girls, Aria left the house and drove her car into a parking lot next to Ezra's flat. She walked upstairs and rang the bell. Ezra opened the door.

"Hey." He said kissing her forehead. "I made dinner for us, sit down at the table. I'm almost done with it. Hopefully you're hungry?"

"Always am." Aria answered, smiling and sat down at the table in the living room which was already laid. Hearing sounds out of the kitchen, she asked raising her voice: "Shall I help you with anything?"  
"No, it's fine. Wait over there, I'm coming." Right then, Ezra entered the room, carrying to plates with him.  
"It's a vegetarian lasagna." He explained putting the plate in front of her. "But better wait with starting to eat, it's very hot."  
Nodding her head, Aria asked: "Did you leave out the meat because of me?"  
"I did. I knew you didn't eat meat and therefor I thought of making a vegetarian dish for both of us. I still have to warn you, I'm bad at cooking and can't guarantee for anything."

"Then we're already two." She laughed.

"What was it you wanted to talk about?"  
"Umm, my mum wanted to invite some people at the weekend for a barbecue and because you two are colleagues, she asked me if I was okay with you as my English teacher being invited."  
"What did you say?"  
"I hate lying to her but of course I agreed. I didn't want her to think about any possible connections further than teacher and student between me and you."

"I needn't come, Aria. I know you're not comfortable with it and honestly me neither. Could say I have got awful cold or whatever. We can get out of it. It's just a barbecue."  
"I don't even want you to decline." She mumbled.

"Aria, I didn't tell you because it wasn't safe but I applied for jobs as a teacher in other high schools. And yesterday, I received a letter. If I want to, I can start next months. It's only quarter an hour from here."  
"What? Why didn't you tell me? That's awesome. It would mean, we'd be legal? Oh, Ezra. I can't believe it…"  
"It would also mean, we could make some steps."  
"Steps?"

"Like tell your parents. If you want to."  
"I'd love to, Ezra. Oh, I don't know what I shall say. That would be incredible, we could finally be a normal couple."  
"Yes. I have already written a termination. I just wanted to ask you if you want me to. Then we can fax it to the principal."  
"Of course, I want it. Being able to walk on the street and holding your hand, is what I had always imagined doing. We could drink a coffee without having to think about being seen by people we know."  
"We can. Soon we can, Aria. And then, we can also do something else."  
"What?"  
"This." He whispered, picking her up from the chair and lying her down on the couch and kissing her.

"And we can do this." He continued, opening the first buttons of her blouse. A smile hushed over her face, she undressed his T-shirt, throwing it away.

"I like what we can do then." She whispered.

"And I like you." He responded, having finally opened all the buttons.

 **Emily:**

Although it was Friday and most of her friends were busy with other stuff, Emily had swim practice. Having trained hard, Emily went to the shower afterwards exhausted. The shower's warm water relaxed her muscles a little. She was just washing her hair, when a girl entered the bath room. Emily had seen her at practice many times but never really talked to her. Of course, she had seen her, she was one of the team's best athletes.

"Hey." The girl mumbled standing under the shower opposite of Emily's.

"Hey." Emily answered. She didn't know what else to say but continued because the silence was weird. "Good practice today. Swam your season's best time, didn't you?"  
"Oh, yes, I did. Honestly, I don't like Friday night's practices, they are always the most exhausting ones."  
"True, they are." Emily answered, surprised of hearing this from somebody like Paige who she had expected to be very motivated. Reaching for her head band which had fallen, she felt her shoulder hurting.

Having stood up, Emily grabbed it. The muscle felt very tense, she would need a work out in the next days. She soon left the shower, saying bye to Paige.

After dressing, Emily dyed her hair and then went outside were she unlocked her bike. It was already very dark because swim practice had taken longer than usual. Swinging herself on her bike, Emily started cycling.

She had driven for a while, when Emily heard an engine behind her. Emily drove closer to the pedestrian crossing because the car seemed wanting to overtake her. But it didn't. Turning around, she couldn't see much because the car was black and it had tinted windows.

The longer it stayed behind her, the more uncomfortable go Emily with the situation. She turned right to leave the main street but the car stayed with her.

As she wanted to get onto the pedestrian crossing, it suddenly speeded up and hit her bike from behind. Then it overtook her and drove down the street, where it disappeared in the darkness.

Hidden by the car, she lost the control over her bike and landed on the ground. She hit the cold asphalt and kept laying there without a movement. Everything around her was spinning and then she lost her ability to keep awake.

When Emily opened her eyes slowly, she saw a shadow of a person knelling in front of her. Looking up, she spotted blond curls. "Alison?" she mumbled, trying to sit up. "Keep laying, Em." She whispered.

"Is this real?" Emily asked not knowing if she was awake or still unconscious. A smile hushed over Alison's face. She bent down to her and kissed her lips. "Do you really have to ask?"

Emily shook her head which directly hurt. She reached for her temples. Alison had a worried expression on her face, when she stroked her friend's head: "It's always been real, Em. Every single time."

"Why did you leave?" she asked confused. "I had to. Somebody threatened to kill me."  
"A. Do you know…who A is?" Alison nodded her head, not saying anything at first.

"I do. Of course, I do."

"You have to tell me." Emily whispered. "I can't. The person is watching us all the time, Em. A is everywhere."  
"Do I know her?"  
"You always think you know people and then they surprise you." She got closer to Emily's ear and whispered: "Pay attention who you talk to."

"Did A do this to me?" Emily asked.

"Probably yes but I didn't expect her to do things alike to you. It's my fault this happened."

"You have to return." Emily said in response.

"I can't Em. Not yet. But just because you don't see me, doesn't mean I'm not there."  
"My head." She mumbled, about to lose it again. "Alison. Don't leave."  
"I was never really gone." Was the last thing, Emily heard before everything went black again.

Some minutes later:

Emily opened her eyes. She still lay on the street with her bike next to her. "Alison?" she mumbled. She was sure that she'd been here. It hadn't been a dream, it was real. Sitting up slowly, she could still taste the sweet perfume Alison had always used. Emily looked around, to check if she was still there. She wasn't but she had been for sure.

Reaching for her bike, Emily saw that its wheel was damaged. She wouldn't be able to drive with it and anyway she wasn't sure if it was a good idea to drive now.

Instead of standing up, she grabbed her mobile phone out of her bag and dialed Spencer's number. Luckily, she answered the call after only a couple of seconds.

"Hey, Emily. What's up?"

"Spencer. I had an accident which wasn't an accident. But can you pick me up?"

"What? Where are you? Are you okay?"  
"At the main road about one kilometer away from school. I don't know."  
"I'm coming. But don't hang up. Stay where you are. What happened?"

"I don't remember for sure. I was driving home from practice and a…a car followed me. I felt uncomfortable and got closer to the pedestrian crossing. Suddenly it hit my bike and overtook me. I must have lost the control and hit the ground."

"Oh god. Could you see the driver?"  
"No. Tinted windows."  
"I'm there. I can see you." Spencer said, hung up and jumped out the car to run over to her friend.

She was sitting at the ground. Spencer knelt and hugged her.

"Are you hurt?" she asked worried.

"My head hurts and my back too but I'm okay. Thank you for coming."  
"God, your bike. It's totally damaged. I'm putting it into my trunk." She said, picking it up.

"Wait." Emily mumbled. "I must tell you something."  
"What is it?" Spencer asked sitting down next to her.

"I was unconscious but when I woke up for the first time, I wasn't alone."  
"Wait, somebody was here and just left?"  
"I was with Alison. She was here, Spencer. She is alive."  
"Em, you hit your head, she is dead. She…" Spencer stopped talking. "This taste, it's her perfume."  
"Yes, it is. I'm sure, she was here. She talked to me and…and she kissed me."

"What did she say?"

"Somebody threatened to kill her and she had to leave. Plus, she knows A but didn't tell me her name. She said, I shall pay attention who I talk to and she said she couldn't return _yet_."

"Can you remember what she said exactly? When you asked if she knew who A was?

"Of course. She said of course. Then, I asked if I knew her."

"Go on."

"It was something weird, one of these sentences nobody else would say in this situation. You think you know people and then they surprise you."

"Em, you know what that means?"

"Honestly, Spencer, my head is spinning and I never understood what she wanted to say anyway. Now that I have just been hit by car, not at all."

"It means, you know A and you think she's a good person."  
"Oh."

"Yes, oh but Em, how shall Alison be alive? We were at her funeral, we read her autopsy report and we saw the pictures of her corpse."  
"We did read the report but we didn't see her face at any of these pictures. It's Alison we are talking about and she combined with A…"

"You think somebody else is laying in her coffin?"  
"I don't know what I shall think but all I know what she isn't dead and I also know that we never saw her corpse."  
"Whose funeral did we go to then?"  
"Don't ask so many questions, Spencer. If A threatened her to kill her, it's very clever to fake the dead."  
"What else did she say?"  
"A is watching us all the time, she is everywhere.

"Do you think she is watching us right now?"  
"I rather don't think about some things, Spence. Oh, she said something else. Just because you don't see me, doesn't mean I'm not there."  
"Sounds like a bible psalm. What do we do now? We must call the others. If Alison knows who A is, we have to meet her."  
"We would lead A directly to her if she's always following us. And, before you make any plans, could we get into your car? Because I neither like the temperature out here, nor the idea of being watched by somebody who had just driven me down."

"Sorry, you're right. Can you walk?"  
"I think so." She said, standing up and reaching for Spencer to keep standing. "I'm okay, let's get to your car."  
On their way home:

"Why would she come back? If she's alive, it was really risky."

"I didn't tell you everything she said. I asked her if it was real and she said it's always been."

"Oh. Did she mean the two of you?"

"I wasn't sure about that, too, until she…kissed me."

"She kissed you?"  
"Yes and Spencer, her lips were warm and I could feel her breath on my skin. It wasn't a dream, I didn't wake up from it or anything. She stayed with me until I lost my consciousness."  
"It would be unbelievable."  
Emily nodded her head. "I'll text the others. They must come over so that we can talk. They gotta know what I saw. You believe me, don't you?"

"At first, I didn't because I thought you'd lost it and then seen something that wasn't there. But it was her perfume in the air and it sounded realistic. Too realistic for what somebody who's been hit by a car dreams."  
"I have texted them, they are coming over to you."  
"To me?" Spencer asked wondering.

"Of course. My mum would throw them out if she saw my bike alike. We would have to go to the police and explain things, we can't explain."  
"You're right. Dunno if my mum is there. But doesn't matter. Em?"

"Yeah?"  
"Did she change?"  
"It's been almost two years, Spence. She got even more beautiful. Still blonde and tiny. But her expression was different."

"What do you mean?"  
"Before she disappeared, she always had this self-confident look on her face, arrogant rather fits."  
"And now?"  
"Worried but…also sad."  
"Of course, Em. Her friend lay in front of her and had an accident, who wouldn't be worried? She must be sad because I don't think that faking your dead is fun. We don't know what happened to her in these two years. We don't know what she's been through."  
"It wasn't just sad, Spencer."  
"What was it then?"  
"Broken." She said. "She was broken."


	13. Halluzinations?

Late that evening in Spencer's bedroom:

Emily had laid down on Spencer's bed, exhausted and tired. Spencer sat down next to her: "All sure you are okay, Em? You don't look good at all."  
"I'll be okay, don't worry."  
"But I do worry, don't you wanna sleep a little? You could really need a rest."  
"No, I'm fine. I wanna be awake when the others are coming. I wanna talk to them, too."  
"I can wake you up. It'll take some time anyway, Aria had been at Ezra's when you texted her. Just sleep a little, you won't miss anything."  
"Okay. But promise to wake me up." Spencer nodded her friend, seeing how Emily's eyes closed slowly. She covered her with the blanket and went downstairs, where she opened the front door because she didn't want Emily to wake up by the bell's sound.

Spencer stood outside in the garden, starring into the dark night sky. It remembered her of the first time, she had kissed Toby. She could literally see him standing in front of her and then her kissing him. By thinking of it, a bright smile hushed over her face. Suddenly her mobile phone rang, she unlocked it.  
 **"See how easy it is to get her? -A"**

Spencer could feel her breath getting faster, now they could be one-hundred percent sure that it hadn't been an accident. A had hit Emily to hurt her. One the one hand it made her worry about what could be next but on the other hand it made her rather angry. Receiving these messages was already scary enough but knowing that somebody is capable of hurting them psychical? Spencer sighed, luckily Emily hadn't been hurt really badly.  
Luckily, somebody was with her when she woke up for the first time. But this somebody made the whole thing even scarier because Emily said it was Alison. Their friend who had disappeared, they had buried and whose autopsy report they had read.

It seemed to be so clear that she was dead. Nothing is clear anymore since A came into our lives, Spencer thought. She couldn't remember how it had been when a message was just a message. When she didn't panic because she heard her mobile phone's ringtone. But things seemed to be getting worse. A was somewhere out there and probably already planning the next attack. Maybe she is watching me right now, Spencer thought, shivering.

Spencer reached for her phone and dialed Toby's number. She didn't want to feel such alone now that the girls weren't there yet and A was going offensive.

"Spencer?" Toby asked, surprised about her calling him that late.

"Did I wake you up?" she asked in response.

"No, you didn't. Is everything okay?"  
"Yes, probably it is. I just wanted to hear your voice. I'm waiting for the girls to arrive and was kinda afraid because it's dark and stuff..."  
"Are you alone at home?"

"No, actually not. Emily is upstairs in my room but she is sleeping. "  
"Why is she sleeping and you're downstairs?"  
"She had an accident with her bike, nothing bad. She just lost the control over it and fell, I had to pick her up and told her to sleep because she was very exhausted. She had swim practice before and really needed some rest."

"Oh, god. Is she hurt, Spencer?"  
"I don't know for sure but I think not. It was just the shock."  
"I can come over if you want me to, it's not far away."

"No, you needn't. Phoning is okay."  
"Are you sure, you're okay? Your voice is shaking."

"I'm. It was just a shock for me, too. And furthermore, it's a little cold outside."

"Why are you outside? Please get inside. At first, you're getting a cold and at second you shouldn't be standing around there alone. It's dark and you never know who is out there."

"I can't get inside and talk to you because I don't want Emily to wake up. I'm standing close to our house, don't worry about me."

"I can hang up, you better warm yourself up."

"No, no. I'm not even that cold, Toby. Can you just continue talking about whatever?"

"Hey, since when are you afraid of being alone at evenings?"

"I don't know, maybe because of Emily but let's stop talking about me. What about you? How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. Oh, now that you ask. There's something I gotta tell you. Somebody called me today."

"Who?" Spencer said thinking of A.

"Jason. Jason DiLaurentis."

"Wait, he called you? Why?"

"He asked me to work for him. He said, he would return to Rosewood next week. He'll move into the DiLaurentis' old house and needs somebody to help him with the garden."

"Jason returns to Rosewood and lives in Ali's old house? Did you say yes?"

"Of course, I need the money. He will pay me very well."

"Why would he want to live here again, all these memories?"

"I don't know, Spencer."

"Oh, Toby, the girls are coming. Thank you so much for talking with me. Is it okay if I hang up and we continue tomorrow?"

"Yes, have a nice evening and say Emily I hope she gets well soon."

"I do. Love you, Toby."

"Love you, too."

Spence hung up, walking over to the silmultaneous arriving cars of Hanna and Aria. Nice evening, she thought. When did I have a nice evening, the last time?

 **Hanna:**

Hanna and Aria had arrived at the same time and when she just got out the car, she saw Spencer getting towards them. She seemed to be very upset, although she was the usually calm-staying one. Not now, something had happened. The only thing Hanna knew from Emily's message was that they had a problem and they needed to come over to Spencer's. As it was the middle of the night and Hanna couldn't spot Emily, she started getting faster.

Aria was walking next to her, when they finally reached Spencer. "What happened? Where is Emily?" asked Hanna, unable to keep her mouth shut.

"She's upstairs asleep. I promised to not tell what happened and wake her up, so that she could do it herself and I have to keep that promise. Come in, I've already been waiting for you."

In Spencer's room:

When the girls entered the room, Emily was still laying in the bed with her eyes closed, she was obviously sleeping. Spencer knelt next to the bed and tapped her back carefully, she whispered: "Em, wake up. Hanna and Aria are here."

Emily opened her eyes and sat up yawning. She then uncovered herself from the blanket.  
"Hey guys. Has Spencer told you anything about what happened tonight?"

Hanna shook her head:" She said, she had a promise to keep."

Emily smiled:" Thank you, Spencer."

Aria sat down at the bed and leaned against the wall: "Start talking, please."

"So, I had swim practice today and it lasted longer than it's used to. It was already dark outside and I rode my bike home. There was this car, driving right behind me and I got uncomfortable with it. I turned around but I couldn't see any driver because of its tinted windows. I wanted to get on the pedestrian crossing because I scared of it but suddenly it hit my bike and overtook me. I hadn't expected that and lost the control over my bike. I think my head hit the ground because I was unconscious."  
Hanna was staring at her friend as if she was watching a movie in the cinema. Neither she, nor Aria couldn't believe what Emily was just telling them.

"Are you okay, Em?" Aria said still shocked. She nodded her head. "I think so."

"I don't, you look like…" Hanna didn't continue because even she realized that it was tactless to say that.

"Was it an accident?" Aria asked naïve.

Spencer shook her head. "We weren't totally sure but I got a message from A and now we can be."  
Hanna sighed, now A started to drive around and hit them with her car.

"The weirdest part of it, has yet to come." Emily admitted. "I woke up and somebody was with me. Alison."  
"Em, that's not funny. You fell on your head and saw her in whatever." Hanna mumbled.

"No, she was there. We talked. Listen." And Emily explained everything that had happened to her friends.

When she had ended, Spencer said: "At first, I thought she would have hurt her head and just dreamed it but when I got there, everything smelled like Alison's perfume."  
"But guys, this can't be. We were at her funeral and broke into this fuckin' mortuary. I saw these pics and they looked real. Bloody real." Hanna said.

"I looked at them again. Her face isn't visible on any of them. When they found the corpse, it was full of dirt and blood." Spencer answered.

"Whose funeral have we been at then?" Aria said, actually not willing to know the answer.

"I don't know but the corpse seemed to be of our age. If it's not her, it must be somebody who disappeared and hasn't been found till today. We have to research on the internet."  
"Why didn't she tell you who A is, Em?" Hanna asked.

"She said A was watching us and we would be in danger if we knew more."  
"Weird situation to say we would be in danger, when one of us has just been hit by a car." Hanna mumbled.

"What if Emily is wrong? I don't want all of this to begin again." Aria admitted.

"We have no option, Ari. If she's alive, she needs us." Said Spencer.

"She is." Added Emily. "Leave out the if."  
"She is alive and needs us." Agreed Spencer.

Hanna looked to Aria who was staring into the nowhere; she seemed to be thinking about what it meant if Alison was alive.  
"I have to tell you something, too." Spencer started to talk. "I was waiting out there for you arriving and I called Toby."  
"Why?" interrupted Hanna.

"Because I was afraid of standing there in the darkness and his voice makes me feel safe." Spencer mumbled. "But we small talked and then he told me something. He has a got a job."  
"That's good, Spence. He needs the money, doesn't he?" Said Aria enthusiastic.

"The job is different. Jason called him. Jason DiLaurentis. He'll move into their old house next week and wants Toby to help him with the garden."  
"Jason returns?" Hanna asked shocked of hearing that. He had always been a weirdo, smoking with his creepy friends in the dark room. Now that his sister who used to be dead but seems to not be, appeared, it's even weirder.

Spencer nodded her head: "Emily meets Alison and then Jason returns."

"What is that supposed to mean?" asked Emily.

"I dunno but he could have returned every single day of the past year. You see her and then Toby tells me he returns. That's very improbably."

"Do you think, he thinks that she's alive?"  
"They weren't close, so she wouldn't have given him any signs but maybe he's looking for answers and maybe he hopes to find her."

"We have got enough problems without her brother who was nothing but on drugs all the time." Hanna said angry. "Ugh. Sorry, Spencer. Not that we wouldn't want to be in touch with people who are on drugs."

"Hanna, I'm nothing in comparison to him and you needn't apologize." She answered. "Oh, before I forget about it, I'll ask Toby to fix your bike."  
"What did you tell him?"

"You were tired from practice and lost the control." Spencer mumbled blushing.

"Okay, that's fine."  
Aria sighed. "Tomorrow is school."

"Today." Hanna laughed. "It's already 1 o'clock."  
"My parents aren't at home, this night. Can I sleep here?" Aria asked.

"Of course." Spencer said. "Emily also sleeps here. I called her mother and told her she was under the shower."  
"Thank you."

"Han? Do you wanna sleep here, too?"

"No, I better go home. My mum would be worried and I don't wanna call her that late."  
"It's dark outside, leave her a message." Aria suggested.

Hanna shook her head, picking her bag up. "I really gotta go. Have a good night." She said and left the room.

"Wait." Spencer called her back. "Everything okay?"

"Yes, of course." She said and turned to the door to walk downstairs. As she had just reached the door, Spencer stood behind her: "Han. I know it's difficult. The thought of her returning and everything becoming the way it was before…"

"You needn't say that, Spencer. I'm fine. Have a good night." She responded and walked out the door which snap shut behind her. When she reached her car, she pulled her remote control out and unlocked it to sit down at the driver's seat.

She didn't start driving, just sat there and stared into the darkness. Her mother wasn't at home but all she had wanted to, is be alone. Hanna saw Alison standing in front of her and smiling: "You knew I'd come back. You knew it."  
"Oh, shut up." Hanna mumbled. She didn't know how to feel about that Alison might be alive. How would it be if she returned? Everybody would probably admire her as they always did. Somebody like she could disappear for two years, be declared as dead and then appear again, couldn't she? Maybe she would be even more popular than when she disappeared.  
Hanna looked at the clock. She didn't want to sleep because she knew what she'd dream of. She reached for her bag and grabbed the only thing, she still owned that related to Alison. Her fake identity.

She went to a bar and sat down in the corner, where she ordered a drink. The waiter didn't even ask for the identity card. Hanna sat there for a long time and when the sun raised, she had drunken more than just one drink. At least, she wouldn't have to think about Alison now.

Hanna stood up, looking at the clock. Although she hadn't slept, she still drove to school. Having drunken, steering the car showed as kinda difficult but she reached the school without any trouble.

The other girls already stood in front of the building, they waved as they saw Hanna appearing.

 **Aria:**

They stood in front of the school, waiting for Hanna. Each of them was tired because they hadn't slept much. Aria yawned. "We shouldn't have come."

"We can't miss every second day." Spencer said strict.

"Oh, there she comes." Emily said, pointing at Hanna.

Hanna walked over to them. "Morning." She mumbled wearing sunglasses.

Aria looked at her and then to Spencer and Emily. Why was Hanna wearing sunglasses when the sun wasn't even shining? She got closer to her and sighed, pulling back.

"Are you drunk?" she whispered.

Hanna shook her head, not saying anything. "Don't lie, you smell like a vodka soda." Spencer added whispering. "Are you crazy to arrive her alike? You gotta go home. Now."

"I'm not your dog, Spencer."  
"I just don't want you to be in trouble. Why are you drinking?"  
"Not your problem."  
"You weren't at home, were you?" Spencer continued asking.

"You know what? I can drink whenever I want, wherever I want and whatever I want. I'm not your freakin' project or anything, okay? I gotta go."  
"Same sentence as yesterday, Han. Where are you going this time? Have a beer for breakfast?"  
"You were the last person I expected to say that. You are the last person who is supposed to say something alike, okay?" Hanna snapped and left.

"That was really unfair." Mumbled Aria. Emily nodded her head, watching Hanna walk into the building.

"She drank because of Alison." Emily added. "Why doesn't she talk to us?"

"Because it seems to help, Em. Sometimes you don't wanna talk about it because you don't wanna think about it." Spencer admitted.

"We have to keep an eye on her." Said Aria, accompanied by the school bell.

"At least, we're talking about Hanna and she behaves the way drunk people behave, when she isn't. And know, she is drunk." 


	14. Dig up, dig up!

**Hanna:**

Her hands were covered with the dirt, like almost the rest of her. She sat there surrounded by darkness and totally exhausted. She knew what they were just doing was crazy, she knew, they shouldn't but they were here.

Hanna couldn't pull back now, it was too late. She turned her head to the left and considered Spencer's muddy face. Right then, Spencer made a weird sound.

"Oh. I got something. I got something. There is a…a bone." She said staring at the ground in front of her.

Aria and Emily stopped digging and came to Spencer.

16 hours earlier

 **Emily:**

When Emily entered the girl's toilet room, Hanna stood in front of one of the basins, washing her hands. Emily walked over to her and waited next to her. Hanna looked up from watering her hands. "Em."

"I know you don't wanna hear it now but…"  
"Then just don't say it." Hanna interrupted her.

"…you still have to." She finished her sentence. "I know that this is difficult for you but you aren't going through all of it alone. It's difficult for each of us to not know if she is alive or if so why. We all don't know what's gonna happen. You're not alone, Hanna."  
"I'm fine, I just wanted to drink something and had too much, okay? Things alike happen, crap but they do. That's it. No monologue about Alison."

"Listen. Since when do we know each other? Do you think I believe you? Really? You needn't always say you're fine if you aren't. You're not okay, no matter what you're trying to tell me.

When I saw her, I also didn't know if I would be happy or not about her return. We can't even say for sure that she is alive. We can't choose some things and if she is alive or not is one of them. It doesn't depend on our behavior if she is alive and drinking doesn't kill her."

"But it ends my thoughts, Emily. When I'm alone, all this stuff comes to my mind. Everything she has said and done to me. It's as if I watched a movie with us as the protagonists. I don't want everything to be the way it was before she disappeared. This drives me crazy." She mumbled sighing.

"I know, me too. Not knowing if she is dead or not, is awful. But you should talk to somebody instead of drowning your sorrows in alcohol. You were drunk when you drove your car, what if something had happened?"  
"I know." She said quiet.

"How are you, now? Come on, let's get you some coffee."

"I'm okay, I guess."  
They just wanted to leave the toilet room when the door opened and they heard the remarkable sound of a stick hitting the ground. Jenna. Hanna and Emily shrank back and kept standing without a move.

Jenna passed them without saying anything and walked close to one of the cabins but didn't get into. Hanna looked at Emily, her mouth formed a soundless: "What the hell is she doing there?" Emily shook her head. Jenna pulled a mobile phone out and put headphones on.  
Emily felt getting colder, Jenna had a mobile phone? She saw her fingers tipping on the screen, she seemed to call somebody.

"It's Jenna. Jenna Marshall."  
Hanna wanted to leave but Emily held her back to listen to her. Who was she talking to?

"She was drunk?"

Emily couldn't believe her ears, was she talking about Hanna? Who else shall she be talking about?  
Hanna stared at Jenna, her face was pale. She couldn't look at Emily, afraid of what Jenna would say next. She wasn't sure if she had talked to somebody last night because she had drunken much more than just one vodka soda. Leave out the soda.

Jenna continued, she seemed to be really upset about what the caller was telling her.

"What else did she say? Do you think she remembers having talked to you?"

Emily tapped Hanna's back and pointed at her, asking if she had talked to Jenna or somebody connected to her.

Hanna shook her head, not remembering much of what she had done between five and six. She could have, hopefully she hadn't. Whenever she was drunk, Hanna was even more talkative than usually.

"Why did she do that?"

All Emily could think was, yeah why Hanna? She hoped her friends hadn't told somebody like Jenna all their secrets and they had many of them. Much to tell when you're drunk, especially when you're Hanna who loves talking no matter to whom.

"She meets a therapist?"

Not Hanna. Wait, who then? How many talkative drunk girls were out there in rosewood and willing to talk to Jenna? Hanna tapped Emily whispering: "Not me. I have no therapist."

Emily smiled and formed a bottle with her hands, lifting it to her mouth and answered: "Not yet."

She could see a smile hushing over Hanna's face, although her eyes looked rather angry. Just then, Jenna hung up. She turned around and walked to the door, which meant forwards to them.

Emily stopped breathing, they sneaked backwards to the wall, pressing their bodies against it. Jenna pushed against the door and left. Emily stared at the door, trying to catch her breath. What had they just heard?  
"What was that?" asked Hanna as if she could read her mind.

"I thought she was talking about you but she wasn't."

Hanna nodded her head: "Luckily she wasn't. I already thought, I would have told her things she shouldn't know at all."

"Do you know anybody who meets a therapist and could be friend with Jenna Marshall?"  
"At first I didn't know she had friends and at second if she has friends, are probably all of them meeting a therapist. Being friends with her, is enough reason to go there."  
"Hanna, shut up. Be serious, please. Do you know what she was talking about or don't you?"

"Honestly not. Can we go and get a coffee?"

"Yes, let's go. Somebody who meets a therapist and a girl, don't you get it? Plus, she talks to somebody who knows Jenna. Jenna hates us."

"Hate is a strong word."  
"Shut up."  
"Can you explain what you wanna say?"  
"Hanna. We're getting text messaged. What do we know about the person?"

"The person hates us."  
"Go on."

"Oh, right. She. It's a girl."  
"Go on."

"I don't know any further things."  
"Alison told me I knew her and wouldn't expect her to be bad. Conclusion: You guys know her, too. She knew Alison and hated her which means she keeps going because we are Alison's friends."

"But, Em. Almost every person didn't like Alison."  
"What I'm trying to say is: Rosewood is a small town, Hanna. How many clubs or bars or whatever do you know here?"  
"One. I guess."  
"We gotta get there and ask if the waiter saw somebody there yesterday."  
"Of course, he did."

"Was it overcrowded there, yesterday?"

"No, it wasn't but I sat in a corner and was busy with other stuff."  
"When does the bar open?"  
"Am I the call center or what?"

"Just answer the question."  
"From early evening till morning, don't know the exact times."

"Okay, we're going there as soon as possible and ask if they saw a drunk girl sized about 1.65."  
"Do you think they measure their guests?"  
"No, but it's not that big. Maybe they saw somebody."  
"Why shall they tell us?"  
"We're gonna make up anything. If we're pros at something, then it's lying, isn't it?"  
Hanna smiled, waiting for her coffee. As the machine had finally filled the cup, Hanna took it and they sat down in the cafeteria.

"We missed the first two lessons, sorry." She mumbled, tying to drink. "Ouch, it's hot."  
"Of course it is. No problem, it was worth it if we get to know anything about who Jenna was talking to or about."  
Hanna nodded her head. "What I anyway wanted to ask: How are you doing, Em?"

"Oh, not drunk anymore? I'm fine, actually."  
"No injuries?"

"I've god some scratches and bruises. Don't worry."  
"You didn't see anything remarkable on this car? Brand?"  
"It was a big car, something like a Land Rover. I couldn't see its license plate because it was covered with dirt, the only thing I know is that there was a 1 at the end."  
"And the driver?"

"Nothing. I could have seen something when the car passed me but I had already lost it, then."  
"Did it hurt?"  
"No, I was rather shocked. Seeing Alison, didn't really improve my situation, believe me."  
"Did she take care of you?"  
"When I woke up, I was laying on her jacket and she was holding my head on her hands. Actually, she was kind and carefully."  
"But she left you alone and you were unconscious."  
"I don't know if she did, Han. All I know is that I couldn't spot her when I woke up. I don't think she left me. If she ever left any of us, maybe she was watching us all the time."

"That scares me." Mumbled Hanna drinking her coffee. "We gotta know whose funeral we were at. Whose body we saw getting buried."

"How do you think are we gonna get to know that? I don't think we can call Alison and ask because till yesterday I was sure she was dead."

"I'm sure Alison knows but we can't ask her, you're right. Two other persons know who is inside."

"A. But yet we don't have any idea who A is and if so we couldn't ask her as well. Who else does?"

"The corpse." Mumbled Hanna.

"What?"  
"It's DNA. The DNA shows who is down there." She explained pointing at the floor.

"We're not gonna dig the corpse, are you crazy?" Emily answered.

Just in this moment, Spencer and Aria appeared. They had understood Emily's last sentence and were staring at them as if they had totally lost their mind.

"Tell me you're quoting a movie or something and this is not about Ali." Spencer said sitting down.

"Not that Emily could remember a single quote from a movie." Laughed Hanna.

"Serious, guys. What's going on? Why weren't you in math class?" interrupted Aria and Emily told her about the call they had listened to at the toilet.

Spencer sighed. "We can't go to the graveyard and simply dig a corpse. Corpses anyway get decomposed from maggots and bugs and I don't know if I'm capable of extracting the DNA. We would have to get into the police data bank and search for any clues. That's not legal in any view."  
"If somebody saw us digging the corpse, they would think we killed her what is weird because maybe she isn't even dead. There must be another way than doing that. We can't dig a corpse. What if it is her and we have to look straight into her dead face?" Aria said.  
"But if we don't find out if she is dead, we'll never solve our problems." Spencer added.

"What does it need to extract a DNA?" asked Hanna.

"A cell, a hair or something." Spencer said.

"We would have to touch it?"  
"We needn't think about if we had to or not because we will never do it." Said Aria, willing to end the from her point of view unnecessary discussion.

16 hours later:

"That's disgusting." Mumbled Hanna. "Do we gotta touch it?" Although she would have rather shaken it, Aria nodded her head. They had to.

"Do you think there's skin left on it? On her?" whispered Emily.

"No, the corpse was buried here one year ago. There won't be much skin on it but we have to look for hair." Explained Spencer.

"Means we have to find the head? Her head?" corrected Aria herself, each of them didn't know how to call whoever lay in front of them. Spencer nodded. "That's an ulna." Spencer said, putting the last few dirt away from the bone.

"Okay. Where's that? Leg?" Hanna asked.

"Don't tell me you're being serious. It's part of the arm, you learn that in elementary school."

"Who cares about its name? As long as I have an arm, I don't care."

Spencer sighed: "If we wanna find the head, we have to search above. Here." She meant, pointing."

"Could you stop using the word want? Because none of us wants to." Aria mumbled stressed.

They continued burrowing. After some time, Emily whispered shocked of having found it: "There's something down there." Spencer and Aria looked at the skull. "I thought it would look more human." Aria said. "You can't recognize if it was a girl or a boy."

Spencer pulled a knife out, reaching for the skull and scraped over its surface.

"What are you doing? Are you crazy?" Hanna said trying to pull Spencer back.

"I wanted to know if it's a real skeleton or made of plastic but that's definitely a bone."

"Can you get your hair or whatever now?" Aria asked impatient. "There are some left over there."

"Spencer took a small plastic bag out and grabbed the hair which she put into it. "Why is it always me having to do the most disgusting things?" she asked.

"We have to put the earth back on place. Hurry up before somebody spots us." Emily whispered. Knowing that Emily was right, the other girls grabbed earth and threw it back onto the corpse.  
"I feel like this doesn't look like before." Hanna meant, when they had finished putting everything back on place.

"She's right." Said Spencer. "Anything is wrong."

"You're just paranoid. There's nothing wrong with it. Let's leave this freakin' cemetery. We are all covered with dirt over and over. If somebody sees us here, there will be neither difficulties to conclude what we've done nor any explanations why."

"Please, Spencer. This place scares me literally to death." Aria admitted looking around. They walked back to the fence which was in-between them and their car. Emily sighed, realizing that they would have to climb over it. They had entered the cemetery when it was still opened because they felt better with getting there legal. But now?  
"That's a very high fence." Remarked Hanna sober.  
Emily was the first one to climb over it. She was nervous but because she was fit and also very tall, she had no problem with reaching the other side. Spencer wouldn't have one too because she was even taller. Now it was Hanna's turn who wasn't sporty at all, she still got over the fence after first having some struggles.

Spencer looked at Aria who seemed to be really nervous and Spencer could totally understand that because she was short.

"Go for it." Spencer said motivating her friend.

"Spence, I won't manage to get to the other side. It's very, very high."

"I will lift you up a little and help you from down here, I promise. Come on, we are Team Sparia."

"I'm not sure if it's a good idea, I rather stay here. I'm little. Really little."  
"Oh no, you're gonna get your ass upon that fence. I know you can."  
Spencer wrapped her arms around Aria and lifted her up.

 **Aria:**

Aria could feel the cold metal under her skin when her hand reached for the fence. She climbed up without looking down and as she swung her leg on the other side, she could feel it shaking. Anyway, she still got to the ground without breaking her neck.

"I got it. Spencer, I got it." She said smiling, obviously proud of herself.

Standing on the other side of the fence and staring through it, Spencer answered: "You know what?"  
"What?"

"That's what makes somebody really big. Bringing yourself to do things alike. You're big, Aria. Tallness is just a number in the passport, you're big."  
"Aw, Spence. I love you."

"Love you too." She responded, climbing over the fence. Reunited on the other side, they gave each other a hug.

"You climbed over a fence, not the fuckin' mount Everest. So, can you move into this car?" Hanna shouted out of the car, followed by a shhh from Emily.

Aria smiled and they got into the car, where Emily already sat behind the steering-wheel, ready to start driving.  
Hanna turned the radio on, Justin Bieber's voice filled the car. Spencer sighed but didn't say anything about her friend's music choice. She was okay with listening to that if Hanna didn't sing…Right then, her thoughts were interrupted by Hanna who joined the refrain.

Aria looked at Spencer and a smile hushed over their faces but they remained silence.


	15. Bad awAkening

**Hey guys,  
**

 **I'd really appreciate some reviews or ideas for new plots. If you have any wishes, I'd love to use them.**

 **Have fun reading the new chapter.**

 **XOXO**

* * *

 **Spencer:**

She had managed to get into her family's house without being seen by anyone. Having showered to remove the dirt, she directly went to bed where she fell asleep after a couple of seconds.

Usually Spencer was awakened by her clock but not today: Her mobile phone rang which made her wake up. Reaching for it, Spencer yawned.

The text on her screen made her breath stop for a moment.

 **BrAnd new news, I'm big at actuality. -A**

She jumped of her bed, running downstairs into the kitchen. The daily newspaper lay on the table. The article A had meant in her message, was right there on the first page. The heading shocked Spencer, she had known something went wrong.

She overread the article sighing and dialed Aria's number. Her friend answered the call, obviously tired.

"It's Aria." She murmured.

"Have you read the newspaper?"  
"Oh. Hey, Spence. I never do."

"We're on page 1."  
"What?"  
"A published an article about our break-in yesterday at the cemetery. I knew we made a mistake, I knew it."  
"What mistake? Did the cops identify us?"  
"Remember having removed the grave stone to dig the corpse?"

"Of course, I do. It was heavy as fuck."  
"We put it back but upside down."  
"No, oh my god. We put the gravestone upside down and somebody realized it?"  
"Nobody would have realized that if A hadn't published the article. It says somebody damaged it and the cops are working on it. First priority because it could have been Alison's murderer."  
"Shit. Do you think we leaved clues or A filmed us? IS there a picture? Does it say anything about who did it?"  
"The picture shows the grave stone and it says they haven't any clues yet but the police always know more than they admit. They could appear in front of our doors every second. We have to make sure they don't have any clues about who did it."  
"But how are we gonna do that?"

"Come over, I'll explain later."  
"But I'm still in my pajamas."  
"Rather pajamas than orange overall, call Hanna and Emily."  
Spencer hung up and turned her computer on. She knew what they were going to do was totally illegal but she rather risked that than being picked up by cops unprepared. Spencer opened a program and started scanning.  
Some minutes later:

The doorbell rang and as Spencer opened, Aria, Hanna and Emily stood in front of her wearing their pajamas with silly hair.

"Come in." she said, returning to the living room where her computer was still running.

"What are we gonna do?" asked Hanna informed about their situation.

"I'm trying to get into the police data system to get some information about their clues and if they already identified the person. Us."

"Spencer, that's illegal."  
"Not as much as digging a corpse." Emily said, forcing herself to smile.

"I got it. I'm in." Spencer said, sounding upset.

"Here. Look for DiLaurentis, Alison." Aria meant, pointing at the screen and so Spencer did.

More than one hundred results appeared on the screen, sorted by date. Spencer sighed and clicked the newest. As the file opened, they could see some pictures taken at the cemetery. Because the light was very bad, Spencer concluded that they were taken that night. Probably A had watched them all the time, how could they be such amateurs?

Spencer opened them but. "There's only the grave stone, none of them shows us." Said Aria relieved. She had expected to find a detailed description of them or something but that wasn't the case. Scrolling down, Spencer read a text out loud.

 _No signs of vandalism. Grave stone has been turned upside down which the leading detective considers it as a nasty trick. No further investigations. Detective couldn't find any parallels between the murder of DiLaurentis, Alison and the circumstances at the cemetery._

"Which means in English?" Hanna asked confused of what she had heard.

"They think it was a prank and don't continue with any investigations." Aria explained to her.

"So, I stood up for nothing?" Hanna asked.

"You would've had to stand up anyway." Meant Emily.

"Yeah but my neighbors wouldn't have seen me in a unicorn pajama."

"Guys." Aria interrupted them. "I drove past Ali's house today. There stood a car in front of it, guess it was Jason's."

"Oh, I forgot about that. He'll be moving in in the next days. Maybe even tomorrow, haven't talked to Toby in a while."  
"Everything okay with you two?" Aria asked.  
"Yes, totally but I have been busy with credits and stuff." Spencer said.

"You forgot mentioning the real reason. You've been busy with breaking into a mortuary and a cemetery." Emily added smiling.

"If we are anyway in this data system or what it's called, can't we have a look at their investigations? They must have a suspect. The police always know more than they admit." Hanna added.

"Han, they do but we know more." Spencer answered. "We know that Alison might be alive. Still it would be good if they've a suspect who murdered whoever is laying down there."

Aria nodded her head and Spencer changed the category, they were in now. Clicking at the field "criminal report", Spencer searched for DiLaurentis again. _No results._

"What?" Aria asked surprised. "They've no idea who did it?"  
"Wait, I'm gonna return to her file, maybe there're some notes." Said Spencer. But they couldn't find out anything new and finally locked out.

"What if somebody realizes that you used his acc?" asked Hanna.

"Nobody will. I've suppressed my IP. They will neither know that somebody else was in nor who."

"How do you know how to do thigs alike? It's creepy that you're able to get into it." Mumbled Emily.

"I was in an informatic club at our school for almost one year and I thought it was useful, so I practiced and practiced." She explained smiling.

After school:

 **Emily:**

School was over and Emily was walking over to the swimming bath. Practice worked out very good today and she reached her season's best result. As done as happy, she got out of the pool.

When all the girls where in the cabin, the team captain had an announcement for them.

"Girls." She shouted. "Listen please, this is very important."  
Emily stopped drying her hair and sat down to listen.

"Your captain, Paige, is leaving town. Her father got a job in another state which means her family is moving. Today was her last practice."  
Everybody stared at Paige, wondering that she hadn't told anybody. Emily didn't really know her but was still sorry for her having to leave the town and also the team. When she had dressed, Emily went to Paige who was standing in front of the cabin.

"Hey." She said.

"Hey, Emily." Paige answered.  
"I'm sorry you have to leave the team, must be hard for you. But good luck with your new team, I think you'll be successful wherever you go."

"Thank you, yes when my parents told me we had to leave the town, I was very sad at first. But I think a new start is a good chance to not make the same mistakes again."  
"What do you mean?"

"Oh, nothing. Had some problems here. I don't know if I'm rather happy or sad to never see this town again but I'll definitely miss the sharks."  
"Yeah, good luck then." Emily said, hugged her and left. Leaving, she thought about who would be the next captain. If the coach already knew?

When Emily was absentminded busy with thinking about the team, her mobile phone rang. She struggled with pulling it out of her swimming bag but then managed to grab it. Swiping right, she took the call.

"Emily." Spencer's voice sounded upset.

"Is everything okay with you?"

"No. Yes. Um, I just extracted the DNA, it took me hours but I got it."

"Oh my god, you got it? Do you already know who is laying down there? Is it Alison? Don't say it's her."  
"Calm down, Em. Not yet, I'm in the system but I'm afraid of the result. I can't do this alone, I don't wanna find out that she is dead and have to tell you. Can you come over and join me?"  
"Of course, I can. Have you phoned Hanna and aria yet?"

"They're on their way here. Aria's been with Ezra, when I phoned her he picked up. Luckily, I didn't say anything before realizing who I was talking to."  
"He would have freaked out."  
"It was so weird because he was like: Aria's phone? And I just couldn't take him serious because he's my English teacher. He said she was showering. I guess both of us were equally ashamed of the situation. I think he picked her phone up without thinking about it, guess what would have happened if her mum had phoned her."  
"Yeah, you're right. I still imagine them as a cute couple and it's very sad that they haven't told Aria's parents yet."  
"Aria told me he had applied for a job at another high-school and they would meet next week to talk to her parents. Tomorrow is his last day at our school but none of the students is supposed to know it yet."

"So, they're telling her parents?"  
"Yes."  
"What would your parents react like if you told them you slept with your ex-teacher?"  
"I would have to ask your mother to adopt me, probably. If I'm not getting killed directly."  
"Hopefully her parents accept it. What if they go to the police?"  
"He'd get in jail."

"Oh, I'm almost there. Hanna parked on the middle of the street. She is the worst driver I have met in a lifetime. Argh, she is driving me crazy. The street is literally blocked."  
"Just park your car right behind her, it won't take long and here's not much traffic in the evening anyway."  
"Okay, I'm hanging up then."  
Emily got out the car and walked over to Spencer's who was already standing in front of the door, waiting for her.

 **Hanna:**

Hanging up in the Hasting's kitchen with Aria, she stared at the ceiling. She didn't know if she wanted Alison to be alive or dead. Aria sat down on the chair next to her and reached for her hand, her's was just as cold and sweaty as Hanna's.

"Han, how are you?" she asked.

Not knowing what to respond, Hanna shrugged her shoulders.

"Okay, stupid question. I'm so nervous, too."  
"What if it's her who is dead?"  
"I don't know, I really don't. We kinda have nothing to lose because everybody thinks she's dead. If she is alive, it's a surprise."  
"Positive or negative one?"  
"Nothing is just black or white. If she's really alive, she will also have changed. We don't know what she's been through."  
"She doesn't know what she has made us go through, too."  
"Han, let's wait and see what happens. This is not about us anymore."  
"Maybe it is, Aria. Maybe it's been about us all the fuckin' time. A hurts us and texts us and we were at her funeral. We thought our friend was dead, we had to lie about the Jenna thing. It's always been about us. Looking back, I thought if we had made another decision only once, maybe everything would be normal."  
"Normal." Aria said smiling. "I don't even know what it means to have a normal life."  
"I shrug whenever my mobile phone rings and after A did that to Emily, I'm avoiding every black car."  
"I see a person typing something into their phone and directly think if this could be A. Or that. Each time."  
Hanna nodded her head. Right then, Spencer and Emily entered the room. Seeing Aria and Hanna holding each other's hands, Emily asked: "Guys, everything okay with the two of you?"

"We're just kinda nervous." Mumbled Aria.

"Who isn't?" asked Emily in response. "I couldn't sleep last night because it kept me awake."  
"Sleep is overrated." Called Spencer from the other side of the room.

"Says the girl who drinks more coffee a day than other people do in a year." Hanna laughed.

"You get used to not having to sleep much." She explained.

"Aren't you tired?" asked Emily.

"Oh. That's what I meant. I'm so far over the point of being tired. By the way, come over here. We can start now."  
"How are we anyway gonna do this?" asked Hanna.

"We're searching for it. Difficult to explain." Spencer meant and typed some letters and numbers into the computer. "We can exclude people in their data system: Mean, woman older than 30."  
"But why did we need the DNA to do this?"

"Because it helps us excluding other persons: It's been a blonde, blue eyes."  
Her hand was shivering a little when it moved to the enter key. Everybody in the room was staring at the screen and then, Spencer could feel her finger pressing the key. _Enter._


	16. ALIve?

**Okay, so school is gonna start to day in my state but I still won't stop updating the story for sure. Please review my chapters, that's also possilble as a guest but I otherwise feel like I'm writing against a wall. Have fun reading it.**

 **xoxo**

* * *

 **Aria:**

There it was. A result popped on the screen. Without knowing, what to expect, Spencer clicked at it.

"Who's that?" mumbled Hanna confused.

"The girl in the grave where Alison used to be. This is definitely not Alison." Spencer said.

"Alison, she is alive. Guys, she is alive." Emily said, unable to believe what she had just found out.

Aria could feel her heard beating in her chest, faster and faster. "This girl, is dead and nobody knows she is?"

Spencer scrolled down, nodding her head. "It says she disappeared in September, just as Alison did. No clues about her abode. They think she was raped or something."  
"Oh my god and in the reality, she is dead and half the town has been at her funeral?" Hanna asked shocked.

"Her name is Sara. Sara Harvey." Read Emily out loud. "She is sixteen. Was."

"What happened to her? She was buried alive? Do you think A thought she was Ali?"  
"If you see her from backwards, it's possible to mistake them. Above all in the darkness." Said Aria.

"Somebody had to die so that she could live."

"We have to find her, we have to talk to her. What if she needs our help?" asked Emily.

"How do you think are we gonna do that? Phone her?" Hanna meant sarcastic.

"Listen, we all gotta stay calm now and think about what to do next. A girl died and Alison is alive what A hopefully doesn't know. To find out who A is we have to either talk to Alison or go to that club Hanna was in. Because Alison is impossible to find if she doesn't want to, let's go to this cub first." Spencer explained.

"With which explanation do you wanna ask the barkeeper if he has seen a drunk girl within me?"

"We will just tell him that you lost your credit card and a friend saw this girl picking it up but can't remember what she looked like." Spencer said. "Come on, let's go there. It's opened now anyway."

Nodding her head, Hanna stood up and the two left the living room.

Aria could hear Spencer's motor outside and saw them driving away through a window, taking another look at the screen, she sighed.  
"I can't believe she's alive."

"Me neither."

"Are you okay, Emily?" Aria said, putting an arm around her friend. Emily seemed to be confused and upset but how else should she have reacted.

"I don't know. I feel kinda guilty."

"For what?"  
"On the one hand I'm happy to know that she's not dead but on the other hand I also know that another family has lost her child. They're probably going through what we've been going through one year ago, right now."  
"I know what you mean. Do you think she died instead of Alison?"  
"I don't know what I shall think and what not. I'm actually tired and confused."

"We should probably search for her name on the internet to get to know more about her disappearance."

"Can we do this tomorrow? I don't know what about you but I'm not in the mood to get to know more about a dead girl."  
"Yeah, of course. You're right. What do you wanna do? I don't think I can sleep."  
"Me neither. What about going for a walk? I could need some fresh air."  
"Okay, I'm just getting my jacket and my phone."  
"Wait. Should we get out there? It's already dark and if her murder is still out there and A is too and…"

"Hey, Em. It's okay. We needn't go for a walk, let's just sit down in the garden for a while."  
"Okay."

Outside in the Hasting's garden:

"It's a very clear night, isn't it?"

"Yeah, you can see all the stars." Meant Aria staring into the star full night sky.

"How is it doing with Ezra by the way?"

"Oh, we're all right. He is really looking forward on not being my teacher anymore. I can't expect to have a kinda normal relationship, nothing secret kept."

"At first, I thought it was really weird because I only got to know him as our teacher but I can imagine you two as a couple very well."  
"He's awesome. I think I really love him."

"That's great for you. I'm glad you have somebody in your life who cares about you."  
Suddenly Aria winced. "Em. What was that?"

"What?"  
"I heard something, there was something in the hedge over there."  
"I didn't hear anything, probably a bird or something."  
Aria got closer to Emily, hearing another crackling sound from the hedges. Now, she could also see some branches moving. "It's moving. What if somebody is hiding in there?"

"Crap, that must have been an animal or the wind, moving the branches. We can go have a look if you feel better then."

Emily stood up and walked over to the hedge on the other side of the garden. Halfway there, Aria joined her, not willing to be left alone.

Now that she was almost there, Emily also got kinda worried. The girls noticed another movement, more than the last time.

"Hello?" asked Aria.

"There's nobody to answer you." Emily mumbled, not even convincing herself from what her mouth was saying.

When they were only about two meters away from reaching the hedge, a black hooded person suddenly jumps out the hedge. Running away with very high speed, the person shoved Aria very hard and then disappeared in the darkness.

Aria felt the strong hands pushing against her, a shoulder hitting her chest and then she hit the ground where she kept laying. Realizing what had just happened, Emily knelt down shocked.

"Oh my god, Aria. Are you hurt? Does anything hurt?"

Trying to sit up dazed, Aria couldn't say anything. Her throat was dry and her eyes were filling with tears. She could feel them running down her cheeks.

"I'll get you back inside." Said Emily, looking around if the person was still anywhere out there. Not seeing anybody she knelt down again. Aria was shocked and didn't show any reaction. Because she didn't know what else to do, she helped Aria to stand up and almost carried her inside where she sat her down at the couch.

"Aria. Are you okay? If not, you better see a doctor."

"I…I think…I…" Aria couldn't form a sentence but forced herself to continue talking: "I needn't."

"Does anything hurt?"

She nodded her head, it did. She had hit the ground with her shoulder and her stomach hurt, too.

"My head hurts a little, as well as my shoulder and my stomach."

"Keep sitting here, I'll go get you some ice." Emily said and went to the fridge. She returned with some crushed eyes in a bag.

"Let me have a look at your shoulder." She said, pulling her friend's T-shirt down to see it. "It's a bruise, kinda swollen. I think it's gonna be okay."

Aria couldn't suppress a sob and was crying very badly. Emily didn't say anything but wrapped one arm around her and held her tight. She stroked her head, feeling Aria shivering as she hugged her.

"You're safe in here. Nothing is gonna happen. I'm here, I'm holding you."

When the worst was over, Aria asked: "Who was that? That wasn't a 1.65 girl."

"I don't know, Aria. Maybe a burglar or something. It was a guy, for sure. "

"He just knocked me over, Em. What if he's still out there?"  
"I didn't see anybody."

"What if he came to hurt us? We aren't safe here."  
"He wouldn't have been hiding in a hedge if he came here to hurt us. Apropos hurt, all sure you don't wanna see a doctor?"  
"We can't explain what happened, he'll ask question we cannot answer."  
"Your health is the priority, Aria. We better go and let somebody check on you."  
"No, no. I don't wanna leave the house again. If somebody is out there still, we'd both be in danger. I don't wanna go into that garden."  
"The car parks right over there, only 50 meters from here."

"I don't want to. If he's waiting for us."  
"What about calling Ezra?"

"Ezra?"

"He can take care of you and drive you to the doctor's."

"You can take care of me, too."  
"Yeah but he'll be able to protect you. He should anyway know what happened, he's your boyfriend."  
"I'm always calling him when I'm in trouble."  
"You're always in trouble."  
"You know what I mean."  
"Yes but that will end when you can finally have go for walks and kiss each other in public. Spent time outside."  
"Mmhh. You're right, I'm calling him. Wait, where is my phone? I'm sure it was in this pocket, I must have lost it."  
"Shit. Um, I'm also not crazy about searching it now. Spencer probably has his number on this list next to their phone, at least he's her teacher."

 **Emily:**

Walking over to the Hasting's phone, Emily could find his number. She dialed it, luckily, he picked up.

"Ezra Fitz. Mrs. Hastings what can I do for you?"

"Actually, it's Emily here."  
"Oh, okay. What's the matter?"  
"We are at Spencer's. Aria and I. We were in the garden and some guy who had been hiding in a hedge, knocked her over. I guess, she should see a doctor."  
"Is she hurt? What happened?"

"She'll better explain it to you herself. Not badly but better to meet a doctor. She doesn't want to leave the house because she's afraid that somebody could still be out there. And honestly, me too."

"Are you alone?"  
"Yeah we are, Mr. Fitz."  
"I'm coming, on my way. I'll come and pick her up."  
"Thank you."

Emily hung up and returned to Aria who had curled up on the couch. "He's on his way here. Everything will be okay."

Silmultaneous in a club in rosewood:

 **Hanna:**

Although it was Friday, the club was very empty. Only some guys were hanging up in the corners, drinking beer. Hanna and Spencer looked around and saw the barkeeper directly. He was standing behind the bar, waiting for guests to order something.

"Good evening." Spencer said, sitting down on one of the bar stools, so did Hanna.

"Good evening. Drinks?"

"Yeah, two beers please." Spencer said out of courtesy.

"Anything else?" The man asked, filling to glasses and putting them in front of the girls.

"We need an information."  
"Okay?"  
"So, my friend here, Pauline, was in this club some days ago and she lost her credit card because she was kinda drunk."

"Very drunk." Added Hanna.

"Another friend of mine saw a girl picking up the card but she didn't know it was Pauline's, so she didn't say anything."  
"And know you wanna know if I have seen the girl so you can get the card back?"

"Yes. She was about 1.65. And very drunk."  
"Was she alone?"  
"Joined by somebody for some time."  
"I do remember you." He said pointing at Hanna aka Pauline. "You were sitting in this corner, weren't you?"

Hanna nodded her head.

"Yeah, there was another girl that evening. But not as small, rather muscly."  
"Muscly like fat or muscly like sporty?" dig Spencer deeper.

"No, no." he laughed. "Sporty, really sporty. Guess that's why I remember her, she was extraordinary sporty for a girl who gets drunk here."  
"How tall was she?"  
"I reckon her size about 1.80."  
"So tall?"  
"Yeah."  
"What did she look like?"  
"Brown hair, freckles. Can't remember much of her face, we've got many guests."  
"Oh okay. Still, thank you for your trouble."  
Spencer put some money onto the bar and wanted to leave but the man asked: "What was the real reason you wanted to know about that girl?"  
Spencer blushed. "Am I a bad liar? I thought she was cheating on me with my boyfriend."  
"I knew it." He said triumphant.

"You must be a really good judge of character." Said Hanna and the girls left.

Outside, Spencer started to laugh. "What a talent."  
"His judge of character or our lie?" Hanna said smiling.

"Serious again, what he said didn't fit into anything we knew. Maybe you misinterpreted Jenna."  
"I didn't, for sure. I don't understand it. Anything we're trying to find more out about is a cul-de-sac, another secret."  
"Everything what has something to do with Alison, also has something to do with secrets. She loved playing with us, knowing things nobody else knew."  
"What are you trying to say, Hanna?"

"A secret is only interesting as long as you keep it secret. When you tell it, all the fun is over. She knows who A is, we don't. I feel like this is one of her old games. She knows something you wanna know and that's what makes her special."  
"You think she is playing with us?"  
"Dunno. A is texting us because of Alison. This girl's death has something to do with Alison. Everything leads back to her. All we have to do to find A, is find her."  
"You're cleverer than you appear, Hanna Marin."  
"I just think if she doesn't want us to know who A is, we won't. Maybe she's involved in it in anyway. Probably she's trying to protect us but this isn't a freakin' game."  
"What else shall it be?"  
"It's searching the truths. And the truth is often hidden behind many, many lies. Somebody is lying. Either this barkeeper or the autopsy report."  
"Maybe both are."  
"That's what I meant, we don't know anything. Maybe A wants us to think Alison is alive, maybe not. Maybe she faked the autopsy report, maybe she didn't. I just wish we would know anything for sure."  
"That's what A wants us to think, Han. That we don't know anything and can't trust anybody."  
"We have to keep searching, A won't win."  
"We have something ahead of her, Hanna. We've got each other and she's alone. And she's got much more to lose than we do."  
"Her freedom."  
Hopefully the girls would stay optimistic. When they were just standing in front of the club and talked, Spencer's phone rang. Emily would be telling them what happened to Aria. Did they really have less to lose than A? That's the advantage of being alone, you can't lose each other.


	17. When Life becomes a nightmare

**Spencer:**

Hanging up, Spencer couldn't believe what she had just been told.  
"Spence? Why do you have this weird look on your eyes?"  
"That was Emily. Aria got hurt."

"What? But how? I thought they'd be at yours."  
"They were. Emily said they were in the garden and Aria hurt something. When they had a look, somebody jumped out the hedge and knocked Aria over."

"A 1.65 girl?"  
"No, Emily said it was a guy for sure. Way too strong for a girl. Aria has to see a doctor, Mr. Fitz is about to pick her up."  
"Ugh. That's weird."  
"Her being hit by a guy coming out of my hedge or her being picked up by our English teacher who she's dating?"  
"Both. What are we gonna do now?"  
"We can't do anything unless Alison gets herself to talk to us. I thought about sleeping at Toby's if you're okay with that?"  
"Yeah, have fun. I anyway wanted to watch this movie I've got at home."  
"Okay, so I'm gonna drive you home."

In the car:

"Is your mum at home, Han?"  
"Yes, she is."  
"Are you okay with being alone now that we just realized Alison is alive?"  
"My mum is there, I'm not alone."  
"Yeah but your mum isn't the person to talk to about it. If you need somebody to talk, tell me."  
"I will, thank you Spence."

"Oh, and if you know anything knew about Aria, let me know please."  
"All right, see you then. Thanks for driving me here."

Spencer waited in the car until Hanna had finally entered the house, to make sure nothing further happened this evening. She turned the music on and drove over to Toby's house where she parked her car and texted him.

Not willing to ring the bell that late at night, Spencer stood in front of the house. It didn't take long until Toby opened the door. "You're alone, aren't you?" whispered Spencer.

"I am. Jenna is on a trip with the orchestra class today, she'll return tomorrow."  
"Toby."

"Yeah?"  
"I've missed you so much." Said Spencer. His bright smile hushed over his entire face and he took her hand to pull her into his arms where he held her tight. She raised her head and kissed him, feeling his lips soft touching hers.

Toby pulled Spencer into the house, closing the door with his elbow behind him. Soon they lay on Toby's bed, his arm wrapped around her.

Spencer leaned her head against his and he mumbled. "I love you."  
"I love you, too." Just when she said that, she felt his large hands sliding gently over her décolleté, undoing the buttons of her blouse. He took her hands and pulled her up so that she now sat on him, she couldn't stop herself from staring at him. His hand reached for her face and he then tucked Spencer's hair right behind her ear.

Toby's hands now slid down Spencer's hips, she couldn't do anything but close her eyes and lean her head back, feeling Toby sliding over her skin.

At Spencer's:

The doorbell rang and Emily stood up to open it. On the other side of the door, a worried and breathless Mr. Fitz stared at her.

"She's in." Emily said, letting him pass and pointed at the couch. Because she really didn't want her best friend and her teacher to make out in front of her, Emily waved towards Aria and left kinda embarrassed.  
 **Aria:**

Seeing Ezra appear in the door, Aria sat up on the couch. He came over to her directly and sat down next to her. "Aria. I'm so glad you at least look okay. I was so worried, something serious could have happened to you. How are you doing?"  
"Honestly not that…He pushed me kinda hard."  
"How did this happen? Why would somebody do this?"  
"Long story, I'd love to tell you but right now I'm not in the mood to do so. Are you okay with talking tomorrow?"  
"Of course. Do you wanna see a doctor? Emily said she's feel better if somebody had a look on you."  
"I just wanna sleep, actually."  
"Yeah, okay. Let's look how you're next morning. We can still go to the hospital then. Wanna sleep at my house?"  
"If you're okay with that?"  
"You never have to ask if you are allowed to be at my house. Of course, I'm."

Aria wanted to stand up but Ezra said: "Can you walk?"  
"Think so but could you take my bag?"  
"Yes, I will. Let's go then. Shall we lock the door? Do you have any keys?"  
"It locks itself."

Later that evening:

Aria and Ezra were sitting in his bed. When he had just turned the light of, he could already feel her head on his shoulder. He smiled and lay down, gently stroking her head.

He could hear her breath as he closed his eyes. Her hand reached for his and she held it tightly although she was asleep. Ezra didn't let go of her until he fell asleep, too.

 **Spencer:**

Toby and Spencer had both fallen asleep and were now laying in his bed, cuddling up to each other. Spencer had been really tired but was still in a restless sleep: She dreamed of Alison, heard her voice in her head. She saw herself standing in her garden and then there was Alison who ran away from her telling her to go to bed. Spencer took the shovel and tried to follow her but couldn't see her anymore after a few meters. The next thing Spencer saw, was them at Ali's funeral sitting in the church and singing together with rosewood's choir.

When they walked past the coffin, Spencer saw a piece of paper attached on its wooden surface.  
 **The wrong person died. I did not kill her. -A** was written on it in a red color. Touching it, Spencer could feel that it was still wet. Bloody wet. She pulled her hand back, hearing a weird sound.

Looking around, she didn't get where it was coming from. It was a wooden sound. The kind of wooden sound when a fist knocks a door.

But it wasn't a fist knocking a door, the sound came out the coffin. Spencer screamed panicking and ran away from the coffin, out of the church.

Suddenly she woke up by Toby's hand on her back. "Spencer, Spencer." He said, trying to calm her down. He reached for her cold sweaty hand and held it.

"What happened?" he said. "Why were you screaming?"  
"I…I had a nightmare." Mumbled Spencer confused. "Of Alison."

"You still have nightmares? You poor."  
Only since I know somebody else is laying in her coffin, thought Spencer but nodded her head. It had seemed such realistic that she even thought it was real. Toby wrapped his arm around her neck and pulled her onto his lap, holding her. "Hey, you're shivering. It's okay, Spencer. You're safe here, I'm with you and I'll protect you."  
Spencer cuddled up in his arms, leaning her head against his chest. "I didn't mean to wake you up."  
"You probably woke the whole neighborhood up. But doesn't matter. Do you wanna have a warm milk or something? My mum used to make them for me when I had nightmares as a kid."  
"I don't wanna keep you awake. You have to work tomorrow."  
"Stop worrying about me, you'll anyway not be able to go back to sleep now and neither will I. I'll go make us some milk with honey."  
"Wait. Um, I'll join you. I don't wanna be alone."  
She stood up and they sat down in the kitchen. Waiting for the milk to boil, Spencer reached for Toby's hand and took it intertwining their fingers. He pulled her closer again and kissed her forehead.

"Sorry for frightening you." Spencer mumbled.

"Don't ever apologize for screaming when you're afraid. It's okay to be afraid. Although you needn't be when we're together."  
"I know, Toby. I'm totally relying on you because I trust you from the bottom of my heart."  
"We should have more late-night conversations alike." He said blinking his eye.

"No matter what we do. I love the idea of us spending time alone."  
Blowing onto his milk, Toby asked: "What was it that made you scream?"  
"Oh, we were at her funeral and then I heard a knock. When I turned around, I saw that nobody was next to the door. I then realized it came out of the coffin, I was standing right next to. That's when I must have screamed."  
"Uh, that's terrifying. Do you think you can go back to sleep tonight?"

"Yes, I'm just gonna try. I'll be okay. By the way we should go to bed in some minutes because otherwise you cannot concentrate on working. You need to sleep."  
"Well, you're probably right. If you want to, we can leave the door open and a little light on."

"Thank you." She said leaning over to him and kissing him.

 **Hanna:**

Although it was late at night, Hanna was still awake watching movies. She loved doing it when she wanted to clear her mind. Her mother had gone to bed early today because she had had a stress week at work. Hanna sat in her bed, covered with a blanket. Her laptop's screen lightened her face while the rest of the room was already dark.

When Hanna paused the movie for a while and unplugged her headphones, she heard her mobile phone ringing. Wondering who would phone her in the middle of the night, Hanna checked it. _Unknown call incoming._ At first, she hesitated to answer it but then her curiosity bet her fears.

"Hello?"

Hearing nothing but somebody breathing, she asked confused: "Who's this?"

"Hanna?" The voice on the other end of the line whispered, sounding scared. Hanna knew this voice.

"Alison? Is that you?"

"Yes."

"Where are you? Why are you calling me in the middle of the night?"  
"I'm in your garden. Can I come in?"  
"Um. Yeah, come in."

Hanna was rather surprised than nervous as she sneaked downstairs to open the front door. She couldn't see anybody but then Alison appeared. Same long blonde hair but so much older than the last time they had met. When she walked into the light, Hanna could see that her eyes were wet.

"Alison."

"Weird, or? I didn't think we'd ever see again."  
"So did I, believe me."

"Can we talk inside? I'm not supposed to be seen by anyone. Not yet."

"Yeah, come in then but be quiet my mum is asleep and better stays."

Alison passed Hanna and walked into her house, they got upstairs without awaking Ashley and Hanna slowly closed her room's door behind them.

"You don't know how hard it's been to not let you know that I'm alive."  
"Why didn't you tell us? We were so close before…"  
"I didn't want to bring you in danger, it would have been too risky."  
"You never really cared about other people. Since when are you so sensitive?"  
"I can understand that you're angry, you have every right to be."

"Do you have any idea of what we've been through? We thought you were dead, Spencer even thought she'd have murdered you. I almost drove crazy, Alison and then you just appear and tell me it's been hard to stay away?"

"Hanna. Sometimes you just don't have a choice."  
"Why are you coming now? To me? We have never been close or on the same level. You liked me the fewest out of us. Why are you here?"  
"Because I knew you'd be awake. I have to talk to you because maybe it's the safest point now."  
"Nothing has changed, A is still there. What should be safe? Aria has just been attacked by some black hooded guy and you are saying it's safe?"

"It has, Hanna. Everything has changed."  
"But how? I don't get that."  
"When did you receive the last A message?"  
"It's been some time."  
"Because A is not here anymore."  
"How? What? Is A dead? Who is A, you gotta tell me. I have to know."  
"I'm not sure about telling you."

"Why did you come here then? To celebrate that you're alive? We have been trying to figure A's identity out for such a long time and all we got is more trouble than before."

"I feel like I should tell all of you."  
"Alison, we don't have time. Tell me now. You have to trust me."  
"Before I disappeared, I was being rude to almost every person I know. I had enemies, Hanna."  
"Go on."  
"One of them texted me. It were messages alike "I see you." Or something but it got worse, she knew things about me. Any when the person threatened to either kill me or hurt you. I didn't know what to do."  
"So, you acted as if you were dead because you didn't wanna be dead?"

"It wasn't only messages. The person broke into my house, she was everywhere. That night, I left and faked my death. She didn't figure out I was alive, at least I think so."  
"What have you done that somebody hates you as much?"  
"You should know. I was awful to you. I did so many things that hurt people and never realized how it felt to be on the other side. Being the one that has to obey and being the one that runs away. I have never in a lifetime been so afraid."  
"I need a name."  
"She left town last week. Her parents got a job in another state. I've been watching her for a while and she visited a psychologist. Probably the treatment has changed her."  
"I don't wanna hear her biography, give me her name. I wanna know who did that to us."  
"Paige."  
"Mc Cullers?"

"Yeah."  
"No, that must be a mistake. I never even talk to her, she doesn't know me. Why would she?"  
"Han, it's not been about you. She wanted to take revenge on me for being such cruel to her and because I disappeared she continued with seeking revenge on you as my friends."

"Did she hit Emily with the car? They are on the same team, they've been for years, she can't have done something alike."

"I couldn't see her but I think so. I hadn't expected her to hurt you but seems as if she did."

"Wait but who was that guy in Spencer's garden. That wasn't her."  
"I don't know, Hanna. That's the actual reason why I'm here."  
"I don't get what you're trying to tell me."  
"Somebody else is after us and it's not her. I have no idea who it could be but obviously he's dangerous."  
"I'm officially confused. Why didn't you go to the police? Why didn't you talk to us? We could have stopped her. "  
"That sounds easy when you say it alike but it wasn't. She knew everything about me, about us. She would have revealed the Jenna-thing, she would have told them so many things I couldn't explain."  
"How do you know it's her having done it?"  
"I saw her. I was doing my make-up and saw her in the mirror, she was hiding behind a tree in my garden, staring into the room. After I disappeared, I followed her."  
"The Jenna-thing is nothing in comparison to faking your own death, Alison."  
"I didn't have any proof, Hanna. They would never have believed me."  
"And now they will or what? Maybe you were safe from her but she continued threatening us. You're not the only one who has been hurt and scared."  
"I was frightened, I didn't know what to do."  
"Where have you been all the time?"  
"In an abandoned house's basement. But that's not why I came to you. If this game has finally an end…"  
"You can return?"  
"I don't know what I can do and what not but I had to talk to any of you. I can't stay away forever."  
"We have to call the others, they are as well involved in everything as I am."

"Not tonight. It's too late to call them." Alison stood up from Hanna's bed and wanted to leave again because she had said everything she could tell her at this point.

"Ali." Hanna said, holding her back by reaching for her hand. "Stay. I'm not gonna let you sleep out there."

"Why are you doing this for me? You could hate me for what I made you do."  
"I did. But my mother always said that everybody deserves a second chance no matter what he's done."

"Hanna, I really better leave."  
"No. You don't. You can't always appear and disappear and appear and disappear. You're not alone anymore."  
"I just wanna keep you away from my problems. There is always trouble where I am."  
"Don't you realize it? Your problems have also turned into ours a while ago. We are all in it already and you won't leave now. Not this night."  
"Hanna, I can't stay here. What if your mum sees me?"

"She won't. It might not be comfortable but you can sleep in my bathing tub. It's big enough to sleep in, I'll give you a blanket and a pillow."

"Okay."

"I'll text the others and tell them to come over next morning."  
"Don't mention A in your message and me neither."

"Why? Paige is gone, it is over."  
"I'm not sure it is, Han. Who shall this guy in Spencer's garden have been?"

"Maybe he wanted to break into their house, it's obvious that they're rich."

"What did he search for in her hedge then? I don't think it was an angler looking for earth worms."

"What are you telling me?"  
"I don't know but it doesn't feel like it's over."  
"Okay, I'm telling them to come here. Haven't mentioned you or A."

"Thank you for letting me sleep here and thank you for not asking so many questions."  
"You better get some sleep now, it's already very late."

"Just one thing, I've to tell you because that needs to be said. I owe you an apologize and I know I can't make any of the things I did to you undone. So, I'm sorry. I really am. I was a horrible person."  
"I don't know what you expect me to say now."  
"Don't say anything, I just thought you should know. Believe me, I had enough time to think about what has gone wrong and looking back I remember only very few things in my life that didn't."  
Not wanting to answer, Hanna turned her back to Alison and said: "Good night then."  
She waited until Alison had left the room and the bathroom's door was closed. Hanna lay down in her bed, staring into the nowhere.

What had just happened? She had expected finding out who A was more spectacular. Maybe Alison was right and it wasn't over.  
Hanna sighed. Thinking of Alison laying in the room next to her's felt really weird to her. She wasn't sure if she could trust Alison who had literally run away and let A hurt her friends instead. She had never trusted her because she'd never known what about her was real and what was fake.

The only thing she knew about her for sure at this point was that she was alive. Still she had to admit that they had at least something in common: Both of them were afraid of A and shared a secret they couldn't reveal to anyone. Hanna couldn't expect the others to arrive next morning because she needed to talk to them and she had so many questions to ask Alison.

Suddenly a thought came to her mind that made a shiver run down her spine. What if A hadn't killed the girl in Alison's dig? What if Ali had?


	18. At least I'm alive

**Have fun reading the new chapter and please review if you like it or have any ideas, I'm open to all of them!  
Hope y'all have a nice weekend and much time to read.:)**

* * *

 **Emily:**

Waking up, Emily could feel the warm sunbeams on her skin. She yawned and sat up in her bed stretching. It had been a long night. Wanting to know if there were any news, she grabbed her phone which was laying on her nightstand.

Swiping up, Emily saw a message Hanna had sent her a few hours ago. _"Guys, I'm serious. You gotta come directly when you read this. It's important! Please hurry up."_

Jumping out her bed, Emily dialed Spencer's number to see if she was already there. She wasn't.

Spencer had just woken up as well and was dressing herself.

"Em, I've slept at Toby's. Can you give me a lift?"

"Sure, I'm almost on my way. Do you know what this is about?"  
"I've actually no idea but I think it must be really important. I'll call Aria, probably she is still in her bed. "

Spencer hung up and Emily ran to her car, sat down on the driver's seat and pressed the accelerator pedal. She drove faster than usually and reached the Hasting's house after a couple of minutes. Spencer got into the car breathless and said: "Aria is on her way."

"Do you think we've to worry?"  
"I think she'd have called us if she'd been hurt or anything. Still we have to hurry."  
Turning into the street, Hanna's house was at, she saw Aria's car driving into the entrance.  
"How is she there already?" asked Spencer surprised.

"Have you never been on a rush in Aria's car?"

"Not that I remember."

"Yeah, well. If you consider suicided, let her drive when she is stressed."

"Em…"  
"What? She passed the exam after the third time and still can't distinguish a red and a green traffic light."

The girls hoped of the car and joined Aria. She had rung the bell and was waiting in front of the door, obviously as tense as Spencer and Emily, not knowing what she had to expect. Finally, Hanna opened the door.

"What's going on? What happened?" asked Spencer.

"We better talk inside."

Now that the door was closed behind them, Hanna said: "Alison. She is here."

"What?" Aria stared at her, not believing her.

Right then, Alison walked downstairs, slowly and kinda insecure about how the others would react. Spencer, Aria and especially Emily couldn't do anything but stare at her standing there as if she had never been gone.

Emily had waited for this moment to come so long and now she was there. Right in front of her and she was alive.

"Ali." She said making a tiny step forward, her eyes getting wet.

"I missed you." She whispered saying it to each of the girls but looking at Emily. Nobody knew how to react because none of them had expected her to appear here.

Emily couldn't turn her eyes away from her, thinking about how beautiful she was.

"Are you okay?" asked Aria, finally rousing herself from her inertia.

She hesitated to answer but nodded her head then. "At least I'm alive."

Later in Hanna's room:

"But if Paige was A who was that guy in the garden last night?" asked Spencer.

"That's why I decided to come. This whole game should be over because the person who used to be A is gone but it isn't." Alison admitted.

"Maybe it was just somebody who wanted to scare us." Said Aria.

Hanna shook her head: "I don't think so. Nobody would hide in a hedge for no reason and then knock you out. By the way, how are you?"

"Okay. My head still hurts but I'm fine. Was just the shock, I guess."

"She saw me naked." Mumbled Emily.

"What?" asked Hanna and Spencer silmultaneous.

"A saw me naked, I was with her on almost every second day. We showered together, that's sick. I was close to her all the time. How can somebody be such sick and hide it? How could she hit me with her car? We had a talk some minutes before and she was friendly and then? Did she thought she'd have been too friendly and rather wanted to make an attempt of killing me?"

"Em, I'm sorry." Said Aria.

"I don't think it was her who hit you." Interrupted Alison.

"Who else shall it have been?"

"That's the point. I don't know. But I've been gone for a year and had enough time to watch her and what she did. She only wrote text messages but never hurt anybody, not in this entire year. And then somebody hits you with a car and some days later, Aria is knocked out by a black hooded guy."

"She was about to move, maybe she wanted some glamorous finish? I know that sounds sick but I could imagine A thinking alike."

"Either that or somebody overtook the game. Somebody who is willing to go further than messages." Alison explained.

Spencer sighed. "New A?"

"That's what I thought." She said. "Of course, we can't be sure. Maybe it were just stupid coincidences and I'm getting that wrong but I think we should pay attention."  
"I have to ask that now." Said Spencer. "We were on a funeral and because you are sitting right in front of me, not on yours. We extracted the person's DNA who is dead in the reality."

"We found a name." added Aria. "Sara. Sara Harvey."

Alison sighed, not knowing what to say. "I knew you'd ask that."

"Ask what?" asked Emily.

"If I killed her to stay alive and somehow managed to make her death look like mine."

Silence.

"Did you?" requested Spencer. "Did you kill her?"

"No, I did not kill her." She said.

"How can we know that for sure? How can we know that's not another lie?"

"You have to trust me. I would never kill somebody to stay alive."

"Then why is her corpse in your freakin' coffin? Why? Don't tell me you found her on the street or something, you owe us the truth."

Alison hesitated before she started to talk, her voice was shaking.

"I know I do but I made a promise and have to keep it. The other person kept it too and otherwise I wouldn't be here today."

"Listen." Aria meant. "A girl died and we can't trust or help you if we don't know the truth. I'm done with you always keeping everything secret because it splits us apart. If you want us to help you return, you gotta talk."

Alison blushed. "You have to promise me that you don't tell anyone at first. "  
"We do." Hanna said and the others nodded.

"I had planned to disappear for some time already but didn't know how to do it. I don't know if it was the irony of fate but somebody else solved this problem for me. It was some days before the night I disappeared and I was going for a walk to free my head. The sun had already dawned and I was listening to music but I still heard it."

"Heard what?"

"A crash, loud and tinny. I unplugged my earphones and went to where I figured it to have come from, a street. When I got there, I saw this guy standing in front of his car and somebody lay in front of it. I ran there and then I realized I had already seen him before. At your house, Spencer."

Unable to pronounce the word, Spencer mumbled: "My dad?"

"Um, no. Not your dad." Spencer was relieved but when Alison continued she was still shocked, more than that.

"Wren." She said. "It was Wren who stood there."

"No way." Spencer said shocked. "He was always kind, he helped us when Hanna twisted her ankle, he was there for me when I had trouble with Melissa."

"It was an accident, Spencer. At least that's what I thought it had been. I'm sorry."

"What do you mean, you thought it had been?"

"Listen. It's complicated, you just have to listen. So, I walked to him and he saw me. His eyes were filled with tears, he was so desperate. He shook his head and didn't say anything. I looked at this girl who lay there twisted in a weird way, bloody and dirty from the street. He mumbled that it was an accident. He knew me because we had seen at your house once or twice."  
"What did you do?" asked Aria confused.

"He reached for her neck to see if she was breathing but she wasn't. Wren said he couldn't call the police because he was about to finish his doctoral thesis."  
"What has that to do with driving somebody to death?" mumbled Spencer.

"He wasn't sober, it would've been his fault. That's murder, Spencer. He was so angry and sad that he punched the hoot. He told me I had to keep that secret, to leave and act as if I had never seen him here. But I took advantage of him because that's what I always did."  
"I'm scared of what's next." Murmured Emily.

"I told him that somebody was after me and I had planned to disappear for a certain time. We made a deal: I promised to keep it secret if he preserved that girl with my DNA. I knew he had studied medicine and was able to do so and he agreed because he was afraid of losing everything he'd been working for so hard."  
"You can't just preserve an entire corpse with another DNA." Said Spencer.

"Um, yeah that's what he told me, too."  
"What did you guys do then?"

"We put her in his trunk and he buried her in the garden where the cops later found me. Her."  
"But we read the autopsy report, how is it possible that nobody realized that that wasn't you?" asked Spencer again.

"He is working in the hospital as one of the leading doctors and he has access to every room there, also the mortuary. The pathologist only extracted the corpse's DNA but did not identify it because that's not part of his work. Wren identified it as me but his name isn't remarked on the document, only the pathologist's ones. It was easy for him to change some numbers."  
"So, he helped you fake your death?" Aria asked, not believing what she had just heard.

"Yes, he did."  
"The cause of the death was given in this document, too, Alison. At first there was a hit o the cranium but the real cause was given in the end of the report. The girl had earth in her lungs which means she was breathing when you guys buried her, doesn't it?"  
"That's what I wanted to say next. This his on her head was Wren's bumper."  
"Continue."  
"We were in a huge rush and he must have mistakenly identified as dead. I don't know how but she survived this car crash although her head was literally dent." Alison's voice broke, her eyes filled with tears but she forced herself to continue. "When Wren read this report, he freaked out and managed to contact me. Um, I couldn't believe it. He made a mistake and now, he hadn't driven her to death what could have been seen as an accident. He buried her and I watched him do it, I didn't want to kill her. He was so sure that she was dead." Alison turned her face away from the girls but Emily still knew she was hiding her tears. "We killed her. We buried her alive."

"Oh my god." Mumbled Spencer. "I can't believe you did this. Didn't you think about her parents? Do you have any idea of what they must be going through because of you?"  
"I know that's no apologize but we thought she was dead. All I could think this time was that if she was anyway dead and it wasn't my fault, I wouldn't ruin anything. But I was wrong. I ruined a family and didn't even realize it because I always thought about me and only me."  
"What are you doing now?" asked Aria, breaking the silence.

"I don't know what I have to do but I think I'll have to tell police because this family deserves knowing what happened to her daughter."  
"But what about Wren? You'd bring him to jail." Spencer said.

"Yes, but both of us know that we made a mistake and I think none of us can live with this guilt."  
"Ali, you'll have to reveal the A-thing to them then." Concluded Aria.

"Yeah that's why we have to be sure that A is gone because if not, then we'll all be in huge trouble." Alison said serious.

"We have no option but tell them about A. No matter if A is still here or not because otherwise you cannot return." Said Emily.

Just in this second, five mobile phones in rang silmultaneous.

The girls took them out of their bags and Aria started to read out.

 _I am back bitches and now I know everything. -A_


	19. Battles

**Hey, first chapter involving #Haleb. I hope you like it and would really appreciate you guys writing some reviews.**

 **Have a great day. xoxo**

* * *

 **Spencer:**

"No." shouted Spencer standing up and punched angry against a wall. "Why? Can't it be over?"

"What are we supposed to do know?" mumbled Aria.

"No matter what we're gonna do, I have to talk to Wren first because it affects his life as much as mine. I mean he did it." Alison said.

"I can ask him to come to me, probably." Said Spencer, having calmed herself down again.

"You needn't, you have been through enough because of me. Now that A anyway knows everything, I can also phone him and meet him."

"We are going through it together, Alison. You're not alone anymore, there're five of us and A is after each of us." Said Emily with a worried expression on her face.

"How did you get something to eat for this entire year?" asked Hanna changing the topic.

"I had a wig which I could leave the house with. I wore sunglasses and used a fake identity card. But I barely left the house because I was afraid of being recognized by somebody."

"Did you saw us in this wig?" asked Emily.

"Few times. I usually used it to spy on A who had developed as Paige. I was never so far away that I couldn't have helped you but also not so close."  
"Why?" mumbled Spencer.

"Um." Alison hesitated. "Honestly I thought I would not have been able to see you without wanting to walk over to you and tell you everything. I thought if I saw you often, I wouldn't have been able to keep away but I had to."

A smile hushed over Spencer's face. "When Emily told me that she had seen you, I thought she would have serious injuries or something and was hallucinating. She was so sure that she had and any when all of us believed her which is kinda crazy."

"You remembered me having been there?"

"I do." Emily said blushing.

"I thought you wouldn't." admitted Alison.  
Spencer and Aria looked at each other and then stood up. "I think all of us could need a coffee." Said Aria. "Can you show us your coffee machine, Hanna?"

Hanna nodded understanding that they wanted her to leave them alone.

 **Emily:**

"I missed you." Murmured Emily.

"Believe me, so did I. What do you remember of what I said to you?"  
"It's always been real."

"Every single time."

"Did you just say it or did you really mean it?"

"I meant it. I know I made you feel as if your feelings for me were kinda one sided. They weren't and I think you knew that."  
"I didn't know it for sure but I hoped it."  
"You were right to do so."  
"You know, Alison, when your body was found, I wished we'd never met each other. I wished I'd never have kissed you. I was so unbearable hurt when I was told you were dead."  
"I'm sorry, Em. I'm so sorry."

"I thought, I'd never wanna love anybody. You don't know what it felt like. I cried myself into sleep every fuckin' night and hoped it would be better when I woke up. But it wasn't. I was told, I'd get over it but I didn't, Ali."  
"Emily, I missed you just as much. I also didn't know how to deal with it."  
"I felt so bad for never having told you how much I loved you."

"Honestly, I wanted to tell you that I felt something for you but I couldn't. I couldn't because you'd have felt even worse if you had known it."  
"I don't know I should say now. It's not the way it's been before. You were gone for so long and nobody knows that you're back."  
"Em, I changed. I'm not this cruel girl I was when I left. Not anymore. But I can totally understand if you don't want anything else to be between us but friendship."  
"That's not the point. I want it so much that I don't know if I can. "  
"What do you mean?"  
"I can't handle you disappearing another time."  
"You needn't make any choices now, it's okay. I just wanted you to know."  
"Why did you risk being hurt by A to help me?"  
"For one moment, I thought you'd be…" she stuck. "Dead."  
"Oh."  
"I didn't care about being seen or not, I had to have a look on you. Luckily you woke up and we talked. But you were still so dazed and lost it again."  
"Yeah but when I woke up, you weren't there."  
"I didn't leave you alone there, I just hided when you began to move your eyes again because that time I didn't know about Paige finally stopping the A thing."

"You looked so sad that day. Your eyes, they were so empty."  
Alison forced herself to smile. "I wasn't sad. It was worry about you and about the whole thing in general. I thought she'd never end this game and then it seemed to be over."  
"But it wasn't."  
"When I heard that Aria was attacked by a guy, a part of me directly knew it. I was so done and thought it would be over. And now? Where are we now? It feels just like the first time. Was all of it pointless?"  
"Ali, don't say that. Together we can get through it. I'm sure we can."

"When we got this message, I thought it was pointless."  
"What?"  
"That she died, Em. If I hadn't been there that day or not planned to leave, she'd be alive. Maybe she would be alive."  
"Wren would have anyway tried to hide the corpse, I don't think she would be. Maybe there would be someone else dead additionally which is you. Okay, it was stupid and kinda selfish but you can't change it now. Not anymore."

Emily saw that her eyes were getting wet. Although she was still angry for her having let them go through all of it, she sat down next to her on the bed and wrapped her arm around her.

"I'm sure, it's gonna be okay. It can't stay alike forever and it won't."  
Alison leaned her head against Emily's shoulder. "I'm afraid." She admitted.

"So am I, Ali. All of us are but we are going through it together. That's what makes us strong."

At night: 

Not visible from the street, a person in a dark jacket walked through the woods, trying to be as quiet as possible. When she turned around to see if the young doctor was already there, her long blonde hair covered her eyes. It was dark and she was afraid but knew she had to do it. Not only for herself or him but also her friends who were relying on her.

A dark shape appeared at the fork in the road. Without seeing the other person's face, the blonde knew who was waiting for her. None of them was really looking forward on seeing each other but she still hushed over to him.

"Alison." He mumbled considering her. "Didn't expect to see you again."

"Me neither, Wren. But things have changed."

"I know."

"How do you?"

"Otherwise, you wouldn't be here."

"We don't have much time because I'm supposed to be dead. I'll tell you without a hitch."  
"Go on."  
"The person who was after me, stopped playing her game."  
"You wanna return, am I getting you right?"

"Guess, you are."  
"What do you wanna tell the police?"  
"That's why I'm here. It's your decision what I tell them because you're the one who'd suffer the most."

"Listen. I'm not going to force you to do anything because you're involved, too. The truth will take me to prison."

"You're saying you are better off with a lie?"  
"At first, I think so. Both of us are, Ali. I know I've had the responsibility as the adult but still we don't know what's going to happen if they find out."  
"What should I say? The cops aren't stupid, this isn't a game. We are playing with lives."

"Tell them somebody kidnapped you and kept you in this house. He probably killed the other girl because he wanted the cops not to be after you anymore. All you have to do is tell them that you never saw him. You weren't allowed to leave the house but he got you food."  
"Wren!" she tried to keep her angry voice down. "What about this girl's parents? Don't you think they deserve the truth?"  
"It's just temporary, I'll handle it. I promise, I will."  
"Lying doesn't improve any of us situation."  
"I have only worked for two years and I'm already successful. If the truth comes out, I'll have to spend a lifetime in there. My entire life because of this stupid night."

"We made this decision, did it take you two years to realize that your behavior has consequences?"  
"What do you want me to do? I kept your secret to protect you, why aren't you doing the same for me?"  
"I'm sorry but I don't feel like we're doing the right thing."  
"Sometimes there is no right or wrong."  
"What do you want, Wren?"  
"You to do what I did for you because you owe me some time."  
"I don't owe you anything."  
"This conversation ends now."

"Wren!"  
"You know what to do."

The next day at school:

 **Hanna:**

Tired and confused of the weekend's happenings, Hanna walked through the overcrowded floor of the rosewood high. She had been looking for Mona but lately she always hung up with some girls Hanna didn't know.

When she was about to open the door to her history class, somebody from inside pushed against it. Not having expected the door to open, Hanna couldn't get out of the way and the door hit her head.

"Ouch." Mumbled Hanna, staggering backwards. A boy came out of the room, seeing Hanna holding her head, he blushed.

"Oh god, I'm such an idiot. Are you okay?"  
Still holding her head, Hanna forced herself to smile. "Um. Think so."  
"It's my first day here. How do I always manage to do things alike? I'm so sorry."  
"It's okay."  
"My name is Caleb. Caleb Rivers."  
"Hanna Marin."

"Okay, then let me see your head, Hanna Marin." He smiled, looking at her forehead. "You're going to survive it."  
"Great to hear. I think, I gotta go to class now."

"Well, then sorry again."  
"Don't apologize all the time."

Hanna turned around and when she wanted to enter the room, the boy held her back. "You've history, now?"

"Yeah, why?"  
"Me too."  
"You have my heartfelt sympathy." She said sarcastic and sat down at her chair where she pulled her stuff out. This boy had actually been pretty cute, she thought.

"Guys. I need your undivided attention for a moment. We've got a new student who joins our class. Introduce yourself to your future classmates."

"So, um. I'm Caleb."  
"Come on, something about your hobbies and interests? Personal traits?"  
"Actually, I'm pretty ordinary." The guy said, not keeping eye contact with the class. The history teacher sighed and asked him to take his seat. Because the girl who usually sat next to Hanna, suffered from a bad cold, Caleb sat down on her chair.

Many times, during the lesson, Hanna felt his gaze on her without even looking at him. She knew he was watching her and therefor didn't look at him because he would directly stop it. Spencer who sat on the chair right behind her, also recognized his gazes.

After the lesson:

"Han?" Spencer shouted through the halls. "Wait for me." Hanna turned around and kept standing until her friend had reached her.

"Hey, Spence."  
"What's going on between you and this creepy new guy?"  
"Nothing, what do you mean?"

"Oh, come on, don't try to kid me. He stared at you half the lesson. I've got eyes, Hanna."  
"Maybe he was bored or something. And why would he be creepy?"  
"He wore these dark clothes and his hair covered half his face which is a shame because I'd really have liked to see more of it. Have you seen his jawline?"  
"Spence. That's disgusting. You're dating Toby, aren't you?"  
"I'm just making jokes. Why are you blushing and anyway, what happened to your forehead? You've got a quiet big bump."  
"Um, is it visible?"  
"Yeah, it is."  
"I ran into a somebody this morning. He opened the door and I was standing right in front of it."  
"Is this somebody hairy?"  
"Stop, Spencer. I'm going to the toilet now. Annoy somebody else with your stupid jokes."  
"That's also an answer, Han. I knew it." Spencer said and Hanna left, walking to the girl's washroom.

Later:

 **Aria:**

When school was over, Aria left the building in a huge rush. Today was very important for her because she and her parents would have dinner with Ezra. The barbecue had been canceled because of the bad weather but today they would make it up. Aria didn't know if she was happy or not. She had been really looking forward on today because it could change everything. Now that the day had finally come, she felt queasy.

She had enough trouble going on with Alison and was anyway stressed enough. Her parents hadn't talked about the Meredith thing in a while and her dad still lived in a hotel room but they had decided to start having activities together. Because they didn't want to argue, her mum had invited Ezra. What she didn't know was that she had literally invited an argument. Hopefully, they wouldn't call the police or forbid them to see each other.

Entering the house, Aria saw her mother in the kitchen. She was preparing the dinner.

"Hey, Aria. How was it at school?"  
"Good, I think. Do you need some help with the dinner?" she asked.

"No, you needn't help me. Thank you for asking." Looking at her daughter, Ella hesitated.

"Are you all right, Aria? You look a little pale?"

Absentminded, Aria didn't listen.

"Aria?" her mother asked, wondering why her daughter didn't answer.

"What?" she started up.

"I asked if you are all right." Her mother repeated herself.

"Yes, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"  
"I thought you'd be a little pale. Have you had lunch?"  
"Yes, I had. The day was exhausting because of some tests. But I'm fine."  
"Okay. You can go upstairs and lay down till Mr. Fitz arrives. Relax a little."  
"Thank you, mum." Aria smiled and hugged her mum to go upstairs. She lay down on her bed and grabbed her mobile phone. A new message.

 _Aria, is everything fine with today's evening? -Ezra_

 _It'll be okay. I love you. -Aria_

 _Love you, too. -Ezra_

She still had two hours until he would arrive, so Aria reached for a book and started to read.

Having read the first few chapters, Aria decided to dress up. She took a dress and put some makeup on to go downstairs.

Her mum had already laid the table.

"Why didn't you ask me to help you, mum? You wouldn't have had to do all of this on your own."  
"I wanted you to have some time for yourself, darling." Her being so friendly, made Aria feel guilty for revealing one of her biggest secrets to her in only a couple of minutes. She thought about warning her but in exact the same moment, the doorbell rang.

Her dad and Mr. Fitz stood on the other side, as Ella got there to open.

"Good evening, Mrs. Montgomery. Thank you very much for the invitation." Ezra said, handling her mother some flowers.

Aria crossed his gaze, knowing that he was just as nervous as she was. She couldn't figure out how her parents would react.  
They sat down at the table and Ella brought the dish. Aria could feel her hands shaking as she looked at Ezra. Her mum started a conversation.

"This might be a little weird for the two of you because Aria was in your class, wasn't she?"  
Ezra nodded his head. "Yes, she was. But I'm teaching at another high-school now."  
"Yes, I heard about that. How is it going?" Byron asked.  
"I really like the school and I must say that there are many modern rooms which I appreciate."

"I don't know if that's to private but what was the reason for your change?"  
Ezra hesitated to answer looking at Aria who silently whispered a yes.

"Mum." Aria interrupted them.

"What's the matter?"  
"There is something I've been struggling with for a while which I really need to talk about to you."  
"Now?" her mother asked confused pointing discreetly at Ezra.

"Yes." He said. Now her parents were even more confused.

"This situation is weird for both of us but not only because he was my teacher. This might be a shock for you but you have to know it."  
"What are you trying to tell us?" Her mother asked worried.

"I knew him before school started. I was in this restaurant and we anyway began to talk. We had the same interest which was great. But talking developed in something else. Um…We made out."  
"You what?" her mother shouted.

"We're a relationship." Aria continued looking at her plate. "That's why he applied for the other school."  
"Don't get this wrong when we met I thought she was older and didn't know about her being my student."

"You're not being serious, are you?" Byron asked.

"Totally." Aria mumbled.


	20. Struggles

**Aria:**

"How can you do this?" her father asked angry. "When you knew that your relationship wasn't right, why didn't you end it?"  
Aria was angry and sad although she already had expected them to react alike. "We tried to but it didn't work out because I truly love him."  
"You're a student and he is your teacher. How could you?" Byron shouted. He punched against a wall, angry as never before.

"Honestly dad, you're the last person to tell me. It's you who just did the same thing."  
"Aria, you're not supposed to say that to your father." Ella interrupted.

"Why am I not?"  
"Because that's something different. Your father made this decision and was aware of the consequences." Ella continued.

"Are you questioning my ability to figure my behavior's consequences? I'm no kid anymore and I know what I'm doing."  
"Obviously you don't because otherwise this would have stopped." Byron said.

"You know what? I can't change my feeling for him neither can he. No matter what you do, I'll still love him. Love isn't a choice, dad."  
"Aria, what do you expect us to do? We're your parents and have to protect you." Ella answered, trying to calm her down.

"Protect me from what? You didn't protect me from dad forcing me to lie and neither did you from you breaking-up. And now? Now, you want to protect me from loving somebody?"  
"It's illegal. He could go to jail for it."  
"Not anymore because I'm not her teacher." Ezra interrupted. "I can understand your concerns and know what you worry about." He started an explanation.

"Then why are you here? If any of you two would be responsible, this conversation would have never taken place." Her father answered.

"This doesn't lead to anything. Your father and I have to think about it, Aria. During that I would prefer the two of you not seeing each other."  
"You can't forbid me to see him."

"Let it be, Aria." Ezra mumbled, knowing that they wouldn't change their opinions tonight. "I think, I'm supposed to go then. Still thank you for the invitation." He said, standing up. He considered Aria for a last time and left the room.

Aria also stood up and walked to the stairs, when her father held her back by reaching for her arm.

"You've to understand our point of view. How could you keep that secret?"  
"Because I knew what would happen if I didn't. And now, you're angry."  
"We're not angry." Her mother said. "I'm rather desperate. I thought you'd make better choices."  
"You raised me to be honest and if I'm, you don't respect me."  
"We do but…" her mother answered.

"But what? I can't change it, mum. I love him and if you forbid us to see each other, I still will. You force me to dishonesty by not accepting my feelings. Let go of my arm now." She said angry.

"Running away is no option." Her father shouted, not letting go of her.

"Says who? You made out with your student and because you and mum couldn't talk to each other, you left. You left me and Mike and made me feel like this was my fault and now you're telling me to stay?"

"That's unfair, Aria and you know that." Her dad said.

"No, dad, that's honest. And if it feels wrong for you, then because you made the wrong choices and by forcing me to suppress my feelings, you're making wrong choices again but this time for me."

She pulled her arm back and ran upstairs, hearing her father's voice behind her. She felt tears running down her cheeks, when the door snap shut behind her. Sinking down onto the floor, she leaned her head against the door and let the tears run. Downstairs she could hear her parent's voices, talking loud and impulsive. Her mobile phone's ringtone interrupted her sobbing.

 _ **Like father, like daughter. Can you hear them argue? Your fault, ones again. -A**_

Reading this message, Byron opened the door and came into her room.

"Give me your mobile phone." He said strictly.

"No, I won't."  
"That's childish and you know that. Give me your phone right now. You're not going to keep in contact with this pervert."  
He reached for her phone and put it into his jacket.

"You can't stop me from keeping in contact with him."  
"You'll get to see what I can." He shouted at her. "Car keys."

"No dad." She said angry. "How am I supposed to get to school?"  
"You could have thought about that before you hooked up with your English teacher." He shouted, grabbing her keys.

"That's unfair. Stop punishing me for my feelings." She said when Byron was about to leave the room.

"One another comment and you can look where to sleep tonight, believe me." He shouted and stared at her desperately. He then left the room and she could hear his loud steps on the wooden stairs.

Aria was angry and didn't know what to do, so she reached for her back and ran downstairs. As she had almost reached the door, her father appeared.

"What are you doing now?"  
"I'm leaving because you told me to." She mumbled and the door snap shut behind her. She hurried and walked among the empty street as fast as she could. Although she was on the other end of the street, she could still hear her parents argue.

Aria didn't know where to go and hadn't a phone to call somebody. The first person that came to her mind, was Spencer and so she decided to go there. It was very late and also cold outside because she had left in a rush, she hadn't taken a jacket with her. Aria could feel the cold air making her shiver but she was too upset to even car about it.

Her breath was the only thing she could ear, surrounded by no other person. Realizing that she was alone and nobody knew where she was, she felt her heartbeat getting faster. What if A was waiting for her? Was she really as alone as she seemed to be?

Aria stopped and looked around but couldn't spot anything or anybody. She continued walking even faster than before and soon reached the Hasting's house.  
Ringing the bell, she wasn't sure anymore if it had been a good idea to get here as late but she couldn't pull back anymore.

 **Spencer:**

Spencer and Toby were relaxing on the couch and watching a movie. She had cuddled up in his arms and was staring at the TV. Although both of them already knew the outcome of the movie, they totally enjoyed it.

Suddenly the actor's voices were interrupted by the doorbell.

"Any idea who this is?" Toby asked, wondering about the late visitor.

"Probably my mum or Melissa. Maybe they forgot something at home. I'm gonna open, wait for me."  
Spencer stood up and walked to the door. Surprisingly it was neither her mum nor Melissa standing on the other side of the door.

"Who is this?" asked Toby from the living room.

"Aria." Spencer answered.

"Um, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were with Toby. I'll just go somewhere else."

Discovering that Aria's eyes were wet and some tears were still visible on her face, Spencer said:  
"No, crap. Come in, we were watching a movie which both of us know, you're not ruining anything."  
"Is it really okay if I come in?"  
"You know that you're always welcome here without having to ask." Spencer said, reaching for Aria's hand and pulling her into the house.  
"Hey, your hand is ice-cold. How did you get here?"  
"Walking. My dad took my car keys and my phone."  
"It's dark outside and walking here alone is not a good idea, you know how dangerous it is. What happened?"  
"Ezra and I wanted to let my parents know about our relationship but they got it wrong. My dad literally threw me out. I'm sorry for bothering you…I didn't know where else to go."  
"It's fine, stop apologizing. I'll go and get you something warm to wear, just sit down here if you want to. There is some hot tea over there."

Spencer walked back into the living room, explaining the situation to Toby. She then went upstairs to get a pullover and sweat pants.

Returning to the kitchen, she handled the stuff to Aria who was sitting on a chair.

"Here, take these. I know you're probably gonna drown in them but at least they're warm."  
"Thanks, Spence."  
"You cried, didn't you?" she asked gently rubbing her friend's back.

"My dad was angrier than I had ever seen him before. I was so desperate and when I walked here I also panicked because I thought of A following me."  
"I'll get you my phone if you wanna talk to Ezra."  
"No, I think we would be just arguing. He didn't defend me or anything, just sat there and listened to my father blaming me."  
"I'm sorry, Aria."

She leaned her head against Spencer's shoulder and hugging her, Spencer could feel Aria shaking because she was crying so badly. Spencer kept holding her until it was over.

"It's just unfair." She murmured.

"I know but I'm sure you guys are gonna be okay. You love each other and getting through this will just make your relationship stronger."

Staring into Spencer's eyes, Aria nodded her head.

"Do you wanna eat something?"  
"Thank you but I'm not hungry at all, just tired."

"Okay, you can sleep upstairs with me tonight. We can go to bed now if you want to."  
"You needn't do this for me, Toby is supposed to sleep with you."

Toby who was just entering the kitchen, considered Aria and said: "You needn't be alone tonight, I anyway have to go to work early next morning and thought about sleeping on the couch."

Too tired to say no, Aria forced herself to smile.

Upstairs:

Aria sat down on the bed and removed her shoes which she was unfortunately still wearing. Spencer darkened the room and chose pajamas.

When Aria had laid down, Spencer covered her with the blanket and lay down next to her.

"If you can't sleep or something, just tell me." She whispered but Aria had already closed her eyes, exhausted from the weird day.

 **Hanna:**

Sitting in the kitchen and drinking some soda, Hanna stared into the nowhere. She never knew what to do on the long evenings her mother had to work at.  
Suddenly her mobile phone rang because she was anyway bored, Hanna had a look at it.

 _Can we talk?_

 _Who is this?_ Typed Hanna into her phone, she didn't have to wait long until she received an answer.

 _Alison._

Few seconds later, her phone rang. Picking up, Hanna said:  
"Hey."  
"Listen, it's very important and I don't know what to do."  
"Okay, calm down at first."  
"I talked to Wren and he wants me to lie about the circumstances of my disappearance."  
"What do you mean?"  
"He asked me to say that I was kidnapped and the same person probably killed Sara to stop the police from searching me."  
"You know that you can't do that."  
"But I can't reveal the A-thing to them, can I?"  
"Where are you?"  
"In front of the police."  
"Wait for me and don't move. I'm coming."  
Hanna hung up, grabbed her car keys and left to drive there. Having driven for a few kilometers, her car made weird sounds. Usually, Hanna would've stopped now but she was in a huge rush and had no time for any stops.

When she was driving among an empty secondary road, the engine made a last sound and then her car stopped. Not having expected it, Hanna flew forwards and against the steering wheel.

She sat up sighing. Why did this have to happen right now that her friend was about to ruin her future?  
Hanna grabbed her phone and got out of the car. Smoke came out of her hood. She had never had to do anything with repairing cars and so she turned her phone on to call somebody to pick her up. But as if the situation hadn't been bad enough, she had no call sign.

"Fuck." She shouted and punched her hood, not knowing what to do. She waked onto the street, hoping for a car to appear. It took some minutes but finally she could see lights at the other end of the street.

Coming closer to her, she could identify the lights as a motorbike. She kept standing on the street and waved for the driver to stop. Luckily, he saw her in the darkness and stopped right in front of her.

"Um, my car is not working anymore." She said, considering the tuned helmet the driver was wearing. As he removed it, Hanna couldn't believe her eyes.

"You?" she asked, staring at the boy who had knocked her with the door this morning.

A smile hushed over his face, as he recognized her and he got down his motorbike.

"So, your car doesn't work anymore?" he asked laughing.

"Stop laughing. I really need to get somewhere and now it just stopped working. I was driving here and it just stopped."  
"Did you hurt?" he asked serious again.

"No, I guess I'm okay. But my car isn't."

"I see, it would take me some time to repair it but you seem not to have time. If you don't mind, I could give you a ride."  
"That would be nice." She said relieved.

"Where do you have to go?"  
"Sounds weird but the police. Don't ask anything and I'm fine, nothing has happened but a friend of mine is about to make a huge mistake and I gotta stop her."  
"Okay, sit down then."  
He helped Hanna to get onto the motorbike. "You're not even wearing a jacket." He smiled, handling his to her. "It's very windy and you'd get a cold."  
"Thank you." She said blushing.

Having wrapped her arms around him carefully, the boy started to drive. Hanna was afraid although she'd never admit it.  
"Are you okay with driving so fast?" Caleb asked turning around.

"I'll be okay, please just hurry." She answered, getting even closer to him.  
As they had reached the police, Hanna looked around but couldn't spot Alison anywhere. Her mobile phone rang.

 _ **Too late, Hanna. I knew you wouldn't get it. You always fail. -A**_

"Shit." Hanna mumbled, staring at the message. She ran into the building and could see Alison's silhouette behind a milky window.

An officer walked over to Hanna.

"Young Lady, can I help you? My name is Garrett Reynolds, I'm an officer."

"No, the young lady has got to go." She said turning around and leaving as fast as she had come.

Caleb was outside, waiting next to his motorbike. "Hey." He said, seeing her. "Is everything okay?"  
Hanna nodded her head but her wet eyes let him know that it wasn't.

"Sit down." He said calmly pointing at the motorbike. "I know we don't know each other but do you wanna talk about it?"  
"I can't. I wish I could." Hanna was trying to hold her tears back, not even knowing why she was about to cry. Well, Alison was going to lie to the police, A was texting her and she had failed. Ones again. A was right.

Caleb looked at her worried, seeing tears running down her cheeks. She seemed lost, standing there on the pedestrian walk and crying. He didn't know if she wanted him to but just did it: Stepping forward to her, Caleb gave her a hug. He had expected her to pull away but Hanna leaned her head against his shoulder. He could feel his T-shirt getting wet from her tears.

Having stood there alike for a while, Hanna mumbled: "I'm sorry."  
"For what?" he answered still holding her.

"All of it. I didn't mean to cry on your shoulder, I don't know what's going on with me at the moment. You must think I'm crazy."

"I have two shoulders and you were welcome on both." He joked, gently letting go of her.

Hanna wiped her tears away. "Thank you for not asking any questions."

"Do you wanna me to drive you home or shall I get you to the car? I can have a look at it."  
"It's already late, you have done enough for me."

"I think I know what the problem is, it won't take long." He answered.

On the way back to her car, Hanna realized that he was driving much more slowly. He had probably recognized that she wasn't into it that much.

As they reached the car, Caleb opened the hood. "Okay, that's easy." He said smiling and having worked on it for a couple of minutes, he asked Hanna to start the engine.

Hanna sat down on the driver's seat and did as he told her to. Surprisingly, it worked out.

"How did you know what to do?" she asked.

"Oh, I'm into technique and stuff. Are you okay with driving?" he meant, considering her red eyes and pale face.

"Yes, I think so but I appreciate your concerns."

"See you at school then." He smiled. "But drive carefully, please." He added.

"I will, thank you for your trouble. I'm sorry for bothering you."  
"You didn't." he said. "It was more fun than spending the evening alone."  
"With me having a nervous breakdown?"  
"Excluding the breakdown but with you, definitely."  
"Good night." She mumbled blushing and got into the car. Driving away, she stared at Caleb in the rear mirror. Even in the darkness, he is pretty hot, Hanna thought watching him leave.


	21. Lies, further lies

**Hey guys. Please review to this chapter, it was kinda hard to write it but I finally got to finish it. :)  
xoxo**

* * *

 **Hanna:**

Freeing her mind from Caleb, Hanna reminded herself of being in real struggles and not having any time to think about a boy now. Because she knew that Spencer was with Toby and definitely asleep, she dialed Emily's number.

Turning the phone's loudspeaker on, she could silmultaneous drive and talk to her. Luckily, Emily picked up although it was the middle of the night.

"Han? What's the matter?" she asked, knowing that her friend wasn't calling just for fun.

"Something happened. I'm okay but it's about Ali."

"Tell me! Is she hurt?"  
"No, I don't think so. She called me telling me that she had been talking to Wren and he wasn't of her opinion. He asked her to lie about the whole thing, her disappearance and stuff. She was already close to the police but I told her to stay where she was."  
"And then?"  
"I ran out of the house and started to drive. Half on my way there my car just stopped and I had no call sign. This boy from my history class drove by chance and gave me a ride."  
"You didn't tell him anything, did you?"  
"No, I didn't have to. He was actually very kind and didn't ask anything. He drove faster than I had ever driven before and I ran into the police but Alison was already in one of the rooms and I came too late."  
"That's not your fault, you came as fast as possible. You did your best to get there, none of us will be blaming you for anything."  
"I don't know what she told them, Em. Maybe she even revealed the Jenna-thing, who knows?"  
"If she doesn't contact us, we'll check the news and find out. What did you do, having found out that you arrived too late?"  
"Um. I returned to the boy."  
"Has the boy a name?"  
"Yeah, Caleb."

"What happened then?"  
"I started to cry, without wanting to. I don't even know why, maybe because I felt useless. Guess this A message gave me the rest."  
"What A message?"  
"Something like: You always fail and stuff."  
"Han, that's not true and you know that. A wants us to think that because not being self-confident anymore makes us weak. How did you get home?"  
"Caleb repaired my car and I could drive here."  
"Okay, at least your car is working again. Have you checked the news yet?"  
"No, I haven't. My laptop is right there in front of me but I can't open it."  
"It's already very late, maybe you better go to bed and sleep a little. What about me coming over to you next morning before school and we're checking it together? I'll text Aria and Spencer."  
"Thank you, Em. You aren't angry, are you?"  
"Not at all. None of this was your fault, Alison made a decision whatever it is. I just hope she thought about her behavior's effect on other people's lives this time. Are you okay?"  
"I'll be fine. Good night then."  
"It's almost morning." Emily yawned.

"Yeah." Hanna mumbled hanging up the phone and stared into the nowhere for a while until she forced herself to go to bed. She fell into a restless sleep, unable to close her eyes for more than some minutes. She was happy when the sun had finally risen and Emily rang the doorbell.

 **Emily:**

Having told her mum, she had to prepare a presentation before school started, Emily stood in front of Hanna's house now. She had expected Hanna to but Ms. Marin opened the door.

"Emily?" she asked wondering about her early visit.

"Hey, Ms. Marin. I'm here to prepare a presentation with Hanna, didn't she tell you?"  
"Um, no. But just come in, she is awake but still upstairs."  
"Thank you." Said Emily, walking to Hanna's room.

Coming in, she saw Hanna sitting on her bed, her laptop in front of her.

"Have you looked yet?" Emily asked pointing at it.

"No, have you?"  
"Me neither."

"Where are Spencer and Aria? Aren't they going to come?"  
"I texted them but Spencer said that Aria had some huge trouble at her home and wasn't doing well. She is staying with her and we can tell them at school."  
"Okay, then." Hanna's hands were shaking as her fingers typed her password. Opening the browser, she stopped.

"What are we looking for?" she asked.

"Look for Alison DiLaurentis and sort the results by their date."  
Hanna did as she was told to.

"I hope she told them the truth." Mumbled Emily, checking the first result, she sighed. "No."

"What?"

Pointing at the screen, Emily opened an article from the rosewood observer. While Emily read out the first few sentences, Hanna could see her face getting pale.

" _The corpse found a year ago that was identified as the missing girl's ones, is somebody else's. Alison DiLaurentis who was declared as dead, returned yesterday late at night._

 _The police haven't given a statement about the unordinary case yet but an insider told us about a mysterious kidnapping. Everything about the exact circumstances, in our tv journal this evening."_

"No, she lied about it. Why did she?" asked Hanna, not believing her ears.

"I don't know. I thought she would've learned that lying makes everything worse. Maybe I was wrong and she hasn't learned anything."  
"We don't know if Wren set her under pressure. Probably we shouldn't draw any rash conclusions without having talked to her."  
"What if we are interrogated by the police and don't even know what we're supposed to say?"  
"Shit." Hanna mumbled.

Just in this moment, her mum ran into the room without even knocking the door.

"I know this is gonna be a huge shock for both of you but I read an article. Alison is alive." She said, trying to catch her breath.

"So did we." Mumbled Hanna staring at the screen as if she had just found out that her friend was alive.

 **Spencer:**

Waking up early this morning, Spencer showered before returning to her room. Aria still lay in the bed with her eyes closed, visible asleep. For a moment, she thought about not waking her up but then decided to do so.

She sat down at the bed and taped her friend's back. "Aria, time to wake up."  
Aria opened her eyes slowly and sat up yawning. "You're already dressed?"

"Yeah, I had a shower because I couldn't sleep anymore. I thought you'd rather sleep a little longer."  
"Thanks for letting me but why couldn't you sleep? Is everything okay?"  
"Honestly, I don't know. Emily texted me last night telling me that something had happened."  
"What?" she asked, directly awake.

"Alison was at the police station and messaged Hanna but she came too late to stop her. They asked if we wanted to come over early and check the news with them."  
"Oh god. Have you checked the news yet?"  
"I have. If you believe the rosewood observer, she has told the cops that she was kidnapped but there aren't any details yet."  
"Um. Do you think she told them about the Jenna thing?"  
"I don't think so, why would she? It has nothing to do with her disappearance."  
"Actually, I don't know if it'd be that bad to just tell the cops."  
"What, why?" asked Spencer, not getting what would be good about making themselves vulnerable.

"Because the more we lie, the more has A to set us under pressure. I don't even wanna know what A could make us do to keep our secrets what they are. Secrets."

"Haven't seen it from this point of view but you're right."  
"What would we do today if we had just found out that she is alive? We have to act normal."  
"Probably, we would stay at home and talk for hours."  
"Then that's what we're going to do, we'll stay at home." Meant Aria.

"I anyway thought you could need a break after yesterday." Spencer said texting Hanna and Emily to stay at home, too.

 **Aria:**

Aria got up although she wasn't going to school today. She went into the bathroom and considered her face in the mirror. Her eyes were still red from crying and her whole face seemed kinda puffy.

Turning the faucet on, she splashes some cold water into her face.

If it was true and Alison had lied, then all of them would have lie, too. Aria knew that she wasn't good at hiding her feelings and a very emotional person. It would be difficult for her to act as if she had just found out that Alison was alive but she had no other choice.

Maybe having red eyes wasn't even bad today because that would make people believe she had cried about Alison. Not only the fact that her supposed-to-be-dead-but-now-alive best friend had returned, she still had neither a phone nor car keys. Additionally, she couldn't talk to Ezra and didn't know if her parents were still angry. Probably, they were.

Aria sighed and left the bathroom, sitting down on the bed next to Spencer.

"What about a coffee?" Spencer asked.

"Good idea." Aria mumbled and the two went downstairs into the Hasting's kitchen. While Spencer was busy making coffee, Aria relaxed at the table.

"Do you think the cops are gonna appear here?"  
"Sooner or later they will for sure." Said Aria.

"Do you wanna talk to your parents, Aria?"  
"I can't. We would just argue and they'd ask me where I had been all night. I'm really not into hearing my dad shout early in the morning."  
"Okay, then. But you can use my phone whenever you want."

"Thank you."

Spencer put a coffee in front of her and Aria warmed her hands by holding the cup tight. "It's always quite cold in here, Spence."  
"Oh. That's because my parents have a remote-controlled heating and they always turn it off in the mornings. Usually, nobody would be here at around eight o'clock."  
"Usually, dead girls are dead and kidnappers actually kidnap."  
"And responsible doctors are really responsible." Added Spencer smiling.

 **Hanna:  
** Her mother had said that they wouldn't have to go to school today and therefor Hanna and Emily were on their way to Spencer's. Sitting in the car, Emily stared out the window.  
As they drove by the police station, she could spot a crowd in front of it: Reporters, Camera teams and citizens.

"Oh shit." Murmured Emily.

At Spencer's:

"Hey, Spence." Hanna said as she opened the door. The two stepped in and saw Aria sitting in the kitchen with a cup of coffee in front of her.

"Can I also have a coffee?" asked Emily.

"Of course, you can and handled both a cup. "How are you doing?" said Emily after a while.

"Um. Good." Mumbled Aria.

"We know that you had trouble with Ezra." Said Hanna.

"Okay, honestly not good at all but I don't wanna talk about it. What about you, guys?"  
"I really did my best to get there in time but my car stopped and I had to wait until a boy from my history class gave me a ride. He drove among the street and luckily stopped."  
"That's not why I'm asking but continue." Laughed Aria.

"We arrived too late, Alison was already in."  
"That's it?" asked Spencer. "You're talking about that guy you ran into yesterday, aren't you?"  
"How did you know?"  
"Because you're blushing." Said Spencer smiling.

"By the way, he hit me with the door. I didn't run into him."  
"What did you do after having found out that you came too late?" asked Aria.

"That's embarrassing, can't you ask something else?"  
"Come on, we're your best friends." Meant Spencer.

"I didn't want to but I couldn't stop myself from crying. Because A texted me that I always failed and because I believed it standing there."  
"A is a bitch, Han." Mumbled Emily.

"Poor boy." Said Spencer. "At first, he hits you with a door and the next time he sees you, you break down."  
"He was kind, actually." Admitted Hanna. "He really was."  
"Aw, luckily you weren't alone, Han." Said Aria empathetic.

"Change of the topic. What do we tell the cops because we'll anyway be interrogated?" asked Emily.  
"The truth. That we found it out about the internet and were totally happy to hear that she was alive. We couldn't believe it and have many questions." Said Hanna.

"Actually, that's not the truth."

"That'd be the truth if this whole case wouldn't be based on her lies." Agreed Aria.

"We could also tell them the real truth. We could tell them about A and Paige and Jenna." Meant Emily, having doubts.

Right then, three mobile phones rang silmultaneous.

Pulling it out, Hanna, Emily and Spencer read out.

" _ **Do you have any proof? Don't mess with me, Bitches. -A"**_


	22. Handle with care

**Hope you guys are having a great weekend, I aprecciate evry review and have muuuuch fun reading...xoxo**

* * *

Some weeks later:

 **Aria:  
** She hadn't seen Ezra for weeks because she had to give her parents the promise. Although she thought that not being allowed to see him was awful, she didn't want to have further trouble at home.

At the moment, she anyway would be a bad girlfriend because there was so much stuff going on in her life: Alison had returned to school and was almost as popular as before she left. The kidnapping story had surprisingly worked out.

Remembering the interrogation, Aria still felt bad for having to lie. The cops thought that Alison had been kidnaped but never seen anybody. At least, the girl's family knew that she was dead.

Not wanting her day to be ruined, Aria stopped thinking about it. She walked over to her locker and grabbed her math book.

She was about to close her locker, as a hand tapped her back. She turned around, not having expected that.

"Hey, Aria." Said Spencer standing in front of her.

"You frightened me." Mumbled Aria.  
"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to. I just thought we could have a coffee after school?"  
"Yeah, great idea. No extracurriculars today?"  
"Um, no. The chess teacher has a cold and stayed at home."  
"What a pity. Now you'll have to spend your time with me which is not half as interesting." Said Aria sarcastic and left.

"I'll be waiting in front of the building." Shouted Spencer through the corridors.

 **Emily:**

After school and practice, Emily stood in the cabin drying her hair with a towel. The other girls had already left because she had to talk to the trainer today. She asked her to be the team's captain which Emily was really glad about.  
When she grabbed her clothes, she heard a door snap shut. "Hello?" asked Emily looking around a corner but she couldn't spot anybody.

Thinking that she was mistaken, Emily turned around to her locker. Suddenly some steps were audible, she hadn't been wrong-somebody was in here.

"Hello? Who is this?" she repeated herself. Falling back, Emily soon could feel the cold wall on her wet skin.

"Emily?" a tiny voice asked and silmultaneous, a head looked around the corner.  
"Ali?" asked Emily, trying to catch her breath. "Why are you sneaking around alike? It thought you were…"  
"I'm sorry, it's a habit probably. Here." She said, throwing the towel to her shivering friend.

"What are you doing in here? I guess you didn't come to handle me my towel."  
"We haven't been talking a lot lately and I wish we would again."  
"Ali, I just can't act as if nothing had happened because it has."  
"I know but maybe we could talk for exactly that reason. You're angry since I returned."  
"No, I'm not. I was really happy to see you and I honestly believed you'd have changed. But then? Then you lied to the police and that without even telling us?"  
"I was afraid, Em. Afraid that he could do something to me if I didn't do what he told me to. A is still after us and…"  
"Yeah, that's right. After us and we all feel bad and all of us have problems but we get through them because we are together. Because we think about what to do next together. You're not alone anymore."  
"You don't get it because you weren't there. I was alone all the time and just alive because Wren had helped me. I felt like I owed him something."  
"You owe so many people something and never cared about that but when it comes to some selfish doctor you do? Do you think you were the only one that felt alone? What do you think did I feel like or Spencer or Hanna or Aria? We thought you were dead and at first, I didn't know how to live with that. I wasn't there with you but you were neither!"  
"I was there, Em. I was there when you had an accident and I really tried to support you."  
"No, you weren't there.

You weren't there when I ran away and got lost in the woods or when Hanna twisted her ankle. You weren't there when Aria almost drowned in a lake and Spencer and I pulled her out. You are not the only one that would have needed somebody and what I mean with that is a breathing friend and not a dead girl following you wherever you go."

"I'm sorry."

"You can't always say sorry and think that's okay then. I believed in you being a better person and I believed in you having changed. You didn't. Not at all."  
Emily grabbed her bag and wanted to leave but Alison held her back.

"Don't leave, can you please listen to me? If I wouldn't have changed, why would I have returned?

I knew that it was risky but I also knew that I had to be there. For you. That's why I'm here because I wanted to help you but I didn't. I wanted to tell the police the truth but wasn't brave enough to do so and I'm done. I'm done regretting everything I don't do."  
Alison stepped forward, pulling Emily closer and soon, Emily could feel her soft lips on hers. Alison's arm was wrapped around her hips, as she slowly let go of her.

"I still love you and I always have and I wanna be more than just a friend to you although I'm lately not even that." Alison said, trying to catch her breath.  
"Why are you telling me that right now?"  
"Because I know that I wouldn't be brave enough to do so later. I can understand if after all we've been through, you don't want to be with…"  
Interrupting her, Emily leaned forward and pressed her lips on Ali's. "I do." She whispered. "For some weird reason, I still do."  
"Love doesn't need a reason." Mumbled Alison.

 **Hanna:**

Today was a party and Hanna had thought about who she would go there with for days. She knew that all of her friends had been busy with other things but they all had somebody to take with them. Okay maybe she also had. That was why she was still at school, waiting for him to come. Caleb had participated in some extracurricular but now he should be done with that.

Hanna felt dump for waiting for him but didn't know when else to ask him if he wanted to go to the party with her. Probably he had a date yet.

Just then, Caleb appeared in front of the building. Spotting Hanna sitting leaning against a wall, he walked over to her. They hadn't been talking much since they had met at night.

"Hanna? What are you doing here?"

"That might sound weird or something but I have a question."  
"Oh, okay. Just ask."  
"There's this party tonight and I wanted to ask if we could go there...together."  
"Yes, I'd love to. That's not a weird question, not at all. Do you mean as a date?"  
"Maybe." She admitted blushing.

"For sure, I'll come with you. I'll pick you up at eight if you're fine with that?"  
"Oh, yeah of course. Thank you."

"See you then." He said, turning her his back.

As Hanna was about to leave, he shouted. "Wait."  
Turning around, Hanna asked: "What?"  
"What are you going to wear?"  
"That's no prom, Caleb." She laughed.

"Oh, right. Then, see you this evening."  
Hanna laughed, watching him leave and dialed Spencer's number.

 **Spencer:**

Sitting in the coffee shop with Aria, her mobile suddenly rang.

"Hey?" she asked, picking up.

"Hey, Spencer. It's Hanna. I wanted to make sure you don't forget the party this evening?"  
"Oh god, I really did."  
"Are you serious?"  
"Sorry, Han."  
"But you're still coming, aren't you?"  
"Wait, I gotta ask Aria."  
Spencer lay her phone onto the table.

"Aria, Hanna asks if we're going to the party. Are you?"  
"I totally forgot about that."  
"Me too but I think she wants us to go there, it would be unfair to cancel it."  
"Okay, yeah but I have no date or something."  
"We can go there together, I think if Toby comes, it'll be late. He has to work till tonight."  
"Hanna?" Spencer asked, grabbing her phone.

"We're coming."  
"Okay, see you there."  
Hanging up, Spencer considered Aria. "Why is she so into going there? It's just a party."  
"Maybe she has a date."

"You think so?"  
"Otherwise she wouldn't remind us to go there."  
"It could be this guy she was talking about so much. What was his name again?"  
"Caleb."  
"Yeah, right. I think she totally has a crush on him."  
"It'd be great if she had someone who cares about her. She deserves that."  
"Yes, of course. She could need somebody to talk to, after all that's been going on with A and stuff.""  
"Do you know anything about him?"  
"A?"  
"No, Caleb."  
"Not much, he is new at school and participates in an informatic club. People say he's pretty good at what he does."  
"That's it?"  
"Yeah."  
"Hopefully he is good for her, she would be so done if he wasn't."  
Spencer nodded her head, thinking that no matter how much she loved Hanna, she could be naïve. Caleb didn't seem to be.


	23. Wanna puke?

Three hours earlier:

 **Hanna:**

Sitting in his old car, Hanna was really nervous but tried to seem calm. He had picked her up in time and now they were driving down the road.

"How are you doing?" he asked, trying to break the silence.

"Good, I guess."  
"You needn't say good if you aren't."  
"Okay, there's some stuff going on in my life but now I'm good. I really am."  
"Are your friends going to come?"

"Yes, they're." she smiled, remembering to have to remind them to.

"What I anyway wanted to ask, have you made some friends at the new school?" she continued.  
"Um, not really but there's one guy I'm good with, not close or anything."  
"What's his name?"  
"Lucas."  
"Oh, I think I know him." She said blushing.

Considering her, Caleb wondered why she had blushed.

"What's wrong with you?"  
"Nothing, I'm fine."  
"Hanna, why are you blushing when it comes to Lucas?"  
"Don't judge me." She said. "I had this friend, Alison, she always messed with everyone. She bullied him in a bad way and I never did something but that's long gone and he was still friendly. I'm just ashamed for not having stood up for him."  
"Sorry, I didn't know that. He never told me but I don't think he's mad at you anymore."  
"Why? How would you know?"  
"Um, I've been talking about you and he didn't say anything alike."  
"You've been talking about me? With Lucas?"  
"I also thought about asking you to go to the party with me and we talked about how to… ask a girl for a date."  
"Oh." Hanna mumbled. "That's cute."

Three hours later:

 **Aria:**

"I knew she'd come with him." Said Spencer, considering Hanna and Caleb.

"But they'd make a cute couple." Meant Aria. "They really would."  
"You have seen Alison and Emily, haven't you?"  
"Of course, I have."

"There's so something going on between them, I bet they are together."  
"Yeah, for sure they are. The only person hanging out here alone are you and me."  
Spencer took another vodka and drank it without hesitating.

"Spence, that's been your third." Said Aria strict.

"Come on, I can have fun too."  
"If you think so."  
Suddenly Aria started.

"Aria?" Spencer asked, wondering why her friend behaved alike.

"Oh my god, what is _he_ doing here?" She whispered.

"Who?" said Spencer turning around.

"Wren." Mumbled she.

"Noo." Spencer sighed. "He is probably here because he knew Melissa would come.

"I can't stand him." Said Aria. "He lied to all of us."  
"Not that I wanna defend him or something but actually he didn't because we never asked. He kept it secret."  
"Doesn't make anything better."

"What if Ali sees him?"  
"I don't know, I'm gonna look for her and tell her he's here."  
"Okay."

Aria stood up and left looking for Alison, while Spencer had another vodka. She was bored and also nervous because he had appeared here. When she was just waiting for Aria, somebody sat down next to her.

 **Spencer:**

"Spencer?"

She knew the voice better than she wanted to. Wren.

"We haven't seen in a while." He continued.

"I'm fine with that." She mumbled but he held her back.

"I know, I made a mistake but don't judge me for it. We can talk about it, that's why I'm here."  
Usually, she would have said no and left but now that she already was tipsy, she didn't.

Handling her a coke, Wren began to talk.

"I'm no murder, believe me. I didn't wanna kill anybody and I was nervous. She appeared there and was so convincing and I didn't know better than agree."  
Taking a swig from the coke, Spencer whispered.  
"She wasn't dead."

"I didn't know that, I would have tried to reanimate her if I had known."  
"You're a doctor, how could you think she was dead? She was still breathing."  
"I was upset and not calm enough to be careful."  
"That's a doctor's job- being careful and calm when nobody else is."  
Putting the empty glass down, Spencer sighed.

"Why are you _really_ here? Is it because of Melissa?"  
"No." he said staring at her. She was obviously drunk but he seemed not to mind.

"I'm here because I hoped to see you."  
"Well." She answered slurring a little. "I have got a boyfriend."  
"Where is he then?" Wren asked, getting closer to her.

He leaned forward and before she knew, his lips touched her's. She pulled away from him.

"What are you doing?"

"I thought we'd…"  
"No, we don't." she mumbled. "Leave."

"Spencer:"  
"I'm done with you."  
Wren stood up slowly and left. It didn't take long until Aria returned, Emily and Alison in tow.

"Where is he?" Emily asked, considering Spencer whose head was leaning against the couch.

"He was here." She said. "He kissed me."  
"He what?" Aria asked.

"Are you drunk?" Alison interrupted her.

"Spencer, I told you that you had enough!"  
I didn't have anything further, I promise." Spencer said.

Aria looked at the empty glass in front of her and grabbed it, smelling.

"That's been coke, Wren handled it me." Spencer meant.

"That's no coke, Spence. It smells like vodka, how much of it did you have?"  
"The whole glass."  
"He's an asshole." Said Alison. "How could he give it to her?"  
Emily sat down next to Spencer. "You said he kissed you?"  
"Mmh."

"Did you let him kiss you?" asked Aria.

"I'm not feeling well." Murmured Spencer, her face was pale.

"You don't get to throw up on me, just that you know that." Emily said.

Suddenly Spencer jumped up and ran away, towards the girl's washroom.

"Shit." Said Aria, following her as fast as she could.  
 **Aria:**

Entering the toilet room, Aria found Spencer knelling in front of one of the toilets. She felt so bad that she was retching.

Aria knelt down behind her, holding her hair back as Spencer had to vomit. Not only once, but three times in a row. She waited until she was sure that Spencer's stomach was completely empty and then let go of her hair.

"It's okay, Spence." She said, gently stroking her friend's back. "Are you gonna get sick again?"  
"Um…I don't think so." She murmured, her eyes filled with tears.

"Hey, don't cry." Reaching for a hug, Aria held Spencer tight. "It's not your fault, you're drunk and would have never let him kiss you if you had been sober."  
Spencer covered her face with her hands, crying. She was done and still drunk which didn't improve her situation.

"I…I didn't want to…" her voice broke.

"I know you didn't. It's gonna be okay, for sure."

 **Emily:**

Because she wanted to check on her, Emily searched for Spencer and Aria and found them in one of the cabins.

"Oh, Spencer." She said considering her friend who was still sitting on the ground.

Standing up, Aria said to Emily: "I can drive her home, you're having a date with Ali and I really don't wanna ruin it."  
"I wouldn't mind doing it but if you're okay with that. How is she doing?"  
"Guess, she is pretty wasted. She vomited three times in a row, I don't even wanna imagine how much she had."  
"Do you thinks he can walk?"  
"I don't know but could you help me get her to the car?"  
"Yeah, of course. You probably shouldn't drive her home in this state."  
"You're right, I'm gonna take her to my house. My mum and Mike are anyway out this weekend."  
"Okay then."  
Emily and Aria pulled Spencer up, helping her to get out of the cabin.

"Are you all right?" asked Emily, raising her eyebrows worriedly.

"I'll be okay." Spencer said, still feeling sick and a little dizzy.

Finally, they reached Aria's car and she unlocked it to sit Spencer down on the front seat.

"Thank you, Em." Said Aria, having closed the door.

"If you need any help, call me."

"Okay but I think we'll manage it. Have fun, Em."  
"Call me later and tell me how she's doing."  
"I'll; don't worry."

Emily returned to the party and Aria got into the car, considering Spencer, she reached for a plastic bag in the side compartment and handled it to her.

"Here, just in case you have to vomit again. I don't think so because you haven't eaten much today but to make sure."  
"Thank you, Ari."  
"No problem, tell me if we have to stop and I will, okay?"  
"Yes, okay." Spencer leaned her head against the cold window and Aria started to drive. Holding the plastic bag in her hand, she directly felt a little better.

Fortunately, the two arrived at the Montgomery's house without having any further trouble.  
"Here we are." Said Aria, getting out of the car and helping Spencer to.

"Are you okay?" she asked, pulling he into a standing position.

Spencer nodded although she neither looked nor felt good. Slowly walking to the door, Aria unlocked it and the door swung open.

"Do you think you can make the stairs?"

"I'm not sure, honestly." Said Spencer. "My legs are really shaky."  
"I can't carry you upstairs, you're so much taller than I'm."  
Spencer sank down on the wooden stairs, exhausted and tired. Not knowing what to do, Aria grabbed her phone. She knew that letting Spencer sleep either in the kitchen or on the stairs was no option. Even the bathroom was upstairs, she hadn't thought about that.

Emily didn't pick up, probably she overheard her phone surrounded by guests and music. Neither did Hanna or Alison but Aria didn't blame them. Having no other idea, she took Spencer's phone and called Toby.  
As she was about to hang up, Toby picked up.

"Spencer? I'm done with work now, I can come to that party if you're still there."  
"Hey, sorry. It's Aria, not Spencer."  
"Um, okay. What happened? Is she okay?"  
"Nothing serious, I guess. She drank way too much and vomited, I drove her to my house but I don't think she'd make the stairs and I can't let her sleep in the kitchen. I can't get her upstairs, she's much taller."  
"Yes, don't try to, you could fall downstairs or something. I can be there in some minutes, I'm already in my car. Have you told her mum?"  
"No, of course not. She'd be mad at her for a lifetime. I guess I'm gonna text her from Spencer's phone and tell her that she sleeps at my house."  
"Okay, do that."

"There's something I gotta tell you, usually I wouldn't but now you have to not."  
"Go on."  
"Do you know Wren?"  
"Melissa's ex?"  
"Yeah, exactly. He showed up at the party and Spencer had already drunken pretty much. I wasn't with her but I think he handled her alcohol without letting her know. He kissed her and she pulled back but now that she is drunk, she is feeling very bad for it."  
"Oh, why would he do that?"  
"He's an asshole. Somebody like him doesn't need a reason to. Are you mad at her?"  
"Not at all, it wasn't her fault. Why would I be?"  
"If she had been sober, she probably would have realized that he wanted to kiss her but she didn't."  
"I'm okay with that."  
"That's good because I think she is really sorry although it wasn't her fault at all. She cried badly after having vomited."  
"Poor Spencer, I'm there, Aria. Can you come and open the door?"  
"Of course."

Aria hung up, looked at Spencer and walked over to the door to open it. A worried Toby was standing on the other side of it.

"Hey, thank you for calling me." He said. "Where is she?"  
"Sitting at the stairs." Explained Aria, leading him to her.

Seeing Toby, Spencer tried to sit up. "I didn't mean to kiss him." She said, still drunk.

"I know, I know." He whispered, calming her down. "Wanna get up there and sleep?" he asked.

"Mmh." Spencer murmured.

He carefully wrapped his arms around her, picked her up and carried Spencer upstairs. Aria followed him to show him where to go.

Toby laid Spencer down on Aria's bed, removing her shoes. He then covered her with the blanket and gently kissed her forehead. "You're gonna be okay." He whispered and told her he would be there if she needed him.

Spencer had already fallen asleep as Aria and Toby quietly left the room.

* * *

 **I'm sooo looking forward on writing further Haleb scenes because I think the two are really adorable. Check the next chapter to see how the relationships are gonna develop. Have fun reading and please review to my current chapter, I really appreciate every kind of.  
xoxo**


	24. Light in the dArk

**Hanna:**

It was late that night when the two left the party but Hanna didn't care because it had been much fun. Emily and Alison had gone home about an hour ago and now Caleb and Hanna were walking to his car.

The darkness was overwhelming, even the street lights had been turned off and only the moon and many stars were breaking it.

Having to walk among an abandoned street that was additionally surrounded by many trees, Hanna got instinctive closer to Caleb and reached for his hand. Surprised by her own behavior, she had to smile but didn't pull back, neither did he.

"Are you cold?" asked Caleb after a while, considering her dress that was flattering in the wind. He also didn't wear a jacket because he had expected it to be a warm and mild night.

"A little." Hanna admitted.

"Come here." He said, wrapping his arm around her and pulling her close to keep her warm. "I'm sorry, I don't have a jacket either."  
"I'll be okay." Hanna responded, feeling his warm arm around her. Walking alike, she directly felt way safer. Since Aria had been knocked out by somebody in the darkness, Hanna was always afraid when she was outside and the sun had dawned.  
Noticing that Hanna was trembling, Caleb asked: "Are you afraid or something?"  
"How did you know?"  
"You're shivering and constantly looking around."  
"Um, I've never been afraid of the dark but since all this stuff with Alison happened, I kinda am."  
"Oh, of course. I didn't think about that. But don't worry, I don't think anything will happen to you tonight."  
"I hope so." She answered.

"Look at the stars." He meant. "It's an incredible clear night."

"As a kid, I loved to sleep open air. I often did that with my dad."  
"Why don't you do it anymore?"  
"My dad abandoned my mum and sometime after that, they divorced. He promised me that him breaking up with her wouldn't change anything about our relationship. But it did. I have barely seen him because he's got a new wife."  
"That's a pity."

"What about your parents?"  
Staring at the sky that seemed to be such flawless, Caleb hesitated but then finally said: "My parents died in a car accident when I was very young and I'm living with my aunt."  
"I'm sorry." She said. "I shouldn't have asked."  
"No, don't apologize. I'm as over it as you can be."  
"Do you like your aunt?"  
"Yeah, I do. I honestly don't remember much of my parents and I'm used to living with her. She's great, she really is."  
"Do you have any siblings?"  
"You ask many questions. No, I haven't. My turn now. What about you?"  
"Me neither."

"You can ask two more questions." Hanna said smirking.  
"Do you have a boyfriend?"  
"Um…" Hanna laughed not having expected that. "No, I don't. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here tonight. With you. Go on."  
"Would you mind having me as your boyfriend?"  
Hanna glanced at him, realizing that he was serious.

"I wouldn't." she whispered, freeing from his arm. Hanna stood on her tip toes, looking into his deep blue eyes. He wrapped his arms around her, picked her up and she folded her legs behind his back.

"I wanted to do that since I saw you for the first time." He whispered, so close that she could feel his breath on her skin.

"Me too." Hanna responded almost silent, as he carefully put a stubborn strand of hair behind her ear and leaned forward to kiss her. Feeling his soft lips touching hers, Hanna forgot how cold she was and that somebody could be after her, all she thought about was him standing here and kissing her.

"Wow." He mumbled as he slowly let go of her. "Waiting was worth it."

They walked to his car, holding hands and as they got in, Hanna couldn't stop herself from staring at him.

When he stopped his car in front of Hanna's house later, she kept sitting in there for a while.

"It was a wonderful evening." She said. "I can't remember having had so much fun lately."  
"Yeah, it really was." He answered. "I wish it wouldn't be over yet."  
"We'll have enough time some when else, won't we?"  
"For sure. Is your mum there?"  
"I think so, probably she is."

"Okay." He grabbed a pen and reached for her hand, writing a number onto it. "Here, my number."

"Thank you." She responded. "For everything."

Getting out of the car, Hanna slowly closed the door behind her and walked over to her house.

Although she didn't turn around, she knew that Caleb was waiting in his car to make sure that she got in.

 **Aria:**

She was laying on the couch next to her room where Spencer was sleeping, Toby was going to spend the night in Mike's bed. Aria was about to close her eyes, as her phone vibrated. Reaching for it half asleep, she picked up.

"Hello?" she whispered, no willing to awake anybody.

"Hey, did I wake you up?" asked Emily.

"I was half asleep but doesn't matter, wait a moment. I'm going downstairs, so that we can talk.

Okay, fine, I'm in the kitchen."  
"You called me, didn't you? I wanted to make sure, everything is okay with Spencer."

"Oh, right. Her legs were totally shaky and I didn't know how to get upstairs because I can't carry her."  
"I'm so sorry, I didn't pick up. I promised to be able to be reached and I wasn't. I'm sorry, Ari…"  
"I'm not mad at you, don't apologize all the time." Interrupted Aria her. "Neither Hanna nor Ali picked up as well, so I took Spencer's phone and called Toby."  
"Did he come?"  
"Yes, luckily he was here in a couple of minutes. He carried her upstairs and she fell asleep in seconds."

"That's good, I'm really relieved nothing worse happened. I mean she could have had an alcohol poisoning or whatever."  
"No, she is as good as can be expected under the circumstances. I was glad that Toby didn't freak out or anything because of what happened with Wren."  
"How did he react?"  
"He wasn't angry at all, came directly and helped her."  
"She's lucky to have him."  
"Yes, she is. Apropos having somebody, what's going on between you and Ali?"  
"Um."  
"Did you blush?"  
"Yeah, I did." Emily answered. "She kissed me after swim practice and she is laying upstairs."  
"Aw, are you guys a couple now?"  
"I think so."  
"When did you wanna tell me? Just kidding, congrats."

"Thank you. I think I gotta hang up now, sorry. It's really late but if anything happens, tell me."  
"It'll be okay but in case I will. Good night, Em."

Hanging up, Aria sighed. Usually, she would have phoned Ezra now to talk about everything. Each of her friends was with somebody and Hanna was obviously dating Caleb but Aria didn't know where she was standing with Ezra. She thought if the situation at home calmed down a little, her parents would at least allow her to see him but neither did anything or anyone calm down nor had she seen him for weeks.

Thinking of Ezra, Aria covered her face with her hands. The past weeks had been so exhausting and nobody seemed to understand how she felt now that her parents had forbidden her to see him.

Suddenly she steps behind her and turned around to look at Toby.

"Did I wake you up?" she asked, thinking of her call.  
"You did but no problem."  
"I thought I wouldn't be audible upstairs." She said apologetic. "Couldn't you go back to sleep?"

"I could have maybe but I wanted to check if you're okay. I was wondering why you were up that late."  
"Oh." Aria said, not having expected that.

" _Are_ you okay?" he asked, sitting down on the chair next to her.

"I don't know." She admitted. "The past weeks have been really exhausting and intense."

"Is it because of Fitz?"  
"You know that?"  
"Aria." He said smiling. "You appeared at Spencer's house crying and totally done, of course we've been talking about that."  
"Yeah, right. I forgot about that." She answered. "Not only because of him but mostly. My parents aren't that understanding and they kinda broke up some time ago which doesn't make anything easier. And then Alison appeared and…it's just been too much for me, I guess."  
"It's understandable that you don't feel good in this situation and then all this other stuff happened: You almost drowned in the lake, Emily got hit by a car and Spencer thinks she has to drink as much vodka as coffee."

Aria rubbed her eyes. "Don't remember me of that." She said, forcing herself to smile.

"Do you wanna have a coffee or something?" Toby asked.

"Actually, that would be great." Aria nodded her head.

While Toby was making coffee, she said: "I'm sorry for always bothering you with my problems. You must think I'm totally self-pitying."  
"I didn't think that and you aren't bothering me, you really aren't. If I didn't want to listen to you, I wouldn't have asked." He meant, handling her the cup. "Take care, it's very hot."  
"Thank you." She said. "Not only for the coffee."

* * *

 **Hey guys, thank y'all for reading my story. I'm so looking forward on updating it, believe me. Hope you find some time to write a review. Any ideas for next chapters?**

 **Have a great weekend.**

 **xoxo**


	25. Tell them!

**Spencer:**

Waking up, Spencer found herself in a bed she didn't recognize but turning her head, she realized that it was Aria's room she was laying in. Spencer sat up in the bed, yawning. The sun was already shining through the window, she must have slept for hours.  
As she stood up, Spencer reached for her temples. She had a bad headache and slowly began to remember parts of what had happened last night.

Walking downstairs, she could already hear Aria's and Toby's voices in the kitchen, they were sitting at the table when she entered it.

"Spencer." Aria said, obviously glad to see her. "How are you?"  
"Good morning." Spencer answered. "I'm better but would you have an aspirin or something?" Toby had to laugh and stood up to kiss his girlfriend's forehead. His fingers stroke her messy hair as he considered her face. "I'm really happy that you're over it. Do you remember what happened last night?"  
"Parts of it." Spencer admitted. "I think we were at this party and oh my god…Wren…" she blushed embarrassed.

"He kissed you, I know. I'm not mad at you, Spence. You were drunk."  
"I thought you were." Spencer answered relieved. "I throw up a couple of times but then…I don't remember what happened then."  
"Aria and Emily got you into her car and she drove you hear but couldn't get you upstairs, so she phoned me."  
"I'm sorry for all of this trouble, I'm so sorry." She said, when Aria returned with an aspirin in the one and a glass of water in the other hand. "It's okay, it really is." Said Aria, handling her the water. "Wren gave you coke which was mixed with vodka and you didn't know that."  
"He did?"  
"Yes, we think so. At least the glass smelled alike."  
"Still, thank you so much for everything, you know like calming me down after having thrown up and not telling my mum."  
"That's what friends are there for, Spencer."  
Considering Aria, Spencer wondered: "Hey, why are you wearing your pajamas? I must admit you look pretty tired additionally."  
"Um, yeah. I haven't slept much, neither has Toby. I think it hasn't been more than one hour because at first, we had to take care of you and then…"  
"What then?"  
"I couldn't sleep after having phoned Emily because she asked me to and I also was kinda wasted which made me remember how long I hadn't talked to Ezra."  
"Oh. Are you okay?" Spencer asked worried.

"Yes, yes. I am, don't worry." Aria said and even meant it because now that she had talked about it with Toby, she already felt way better.

 **Hanna:**

Having had breakfast, Hanna checked her phone. When she was about to call Aria, who had phoned her last night, back, she received a call. Alison? She picked up hesitantly, not knowing what she had to expect.

"It's Hanna."  
"Hey, it's Alison and Emily."  
"Oh, okay. What's up you guys?"  
"Nothing particular but we were talking about the investigation and Wren and everything till late last night." Said Alison.

"I just think he isn't the good boy we always thought he would be and deserves a legitimate punishment for his behavior."  
"What are you trying to tell me?"  
Hanna could hear Alison taking a deep breath before continuing to talk. "It just took me some time to realize that I made a mistake by lying for somebody who doesn't even learn from his mistakes or regrets what he has done. I'm not even sure if he knows what he has done."  
"I totally think that's right, I was against lying about it from the beginning but what do you mean with making the same mistakes?"  
"He made Spencer drink alcohol last night without letting her know and then kissed her. Didn't you know that yet?" asked Emily surprised.

"No. No, I didn't. It was a long night yesterday and I didn't check my phone but I was about to call Aria back when you phoned me. How is Spencer doing?"  
"Fine again, although she had to vomit yesterday but what we actually wanted to say was that I decided on going to the police and change my statement."  
"You are? Ali, that's such a big step and I really appreciate you doing that because although it needs to be done, it's still brave to do so. I'm just asking but do you know what the consequences would be? Would you have to go to jail?"  
"Um." Ali mumbled. "That's what I'm afraid of but I did what I did and can't change it now."  
"With being honest you also mean revealing the A-thing?"  
"Yeah, I do."  
"Listen, do whatever needs to be done and we are all gonna support you as good as we can."  
"Thanks, Han." Alison hung up, leaving an upset Hanna alone.

Not knowing whether to feel good or bad about Alison revealing everything to the police, Hanna sat down in the kitchen. Of course, telling the truth was better in the end but now all she could think of was literally inviting A to threaten them.

Days later:

 **Emily:**

Trying to get to see something, Emily was staring at the milky window which Alison's silhouette was behind **,** hopefully everything went well. At least this time. It felt like an infinity, when she was sitting here wanting Alison to finally appear but of course it took long.

Emily grabbed her phone, wanting to feel as if she had something to do.

" _Han? I'm at the station. Can u come over? -Em"_

" _Sorry, I'd love 2. But I'm with Caleb and a friend of him. -Han"  
"Which friend? -Em?"_

" _Lucas, yes Hermy but he's cool actually. -Han."  
"Oh, have fun. Can u still call me later? -Em"  
"Of coz, go for it! -Han"_

So, Hanna was hanging up with Caleb and Lucas and she? She sat here at the police station and was about to reveal rosewood's biggest secret. Emily's fingers tapped nervously on the table, as an officer suddenly appeared.

"Are you Ms. Emily Fields?" he asked, considering her.

"Yes. Yes I am."

"My name is Garret Reynolds and I've been interrogating Alison, we're finished now but her parents have to come because there's so much to talk about. I'd also like to talk to you; would you follow me?"  
"Um." She mumbled. "Okay."

Emily followed the officer into a room, Alison was sitting in and she sat down next to her. Alison's hand directly reached after her's and held it tight. "I'm so glad you're here." She whispered.

"So, I think you're already aware of what Alison told us but the protocol asks me to read it out again." And so he did.

"I've got some questions. So, a person that texts and threatens you is after you?"  
"Yes, it's been alike for a long time. We're five girls and the person is after all of us."  
"Okay, am I the first person you're telling that?"  
"Yes."  
"Why didn't you come earlier?"  
"We…We were afraid, A seemed to be everywhere. All the time. We thought we'd just make everything worse and didn't know what to do. It wasn't just messages, A hit me with a car and threatened Alison to kill her. She also hurt another friend of us."  
"That's exactly what Alison told me too. Okay, the night Alison disappeared, why did you lie about that?"  
"For the same reason. If there is somebody who can hurt you- physically or mentally and this person is always there, you drive crazy. I couldn't sleep for nights, lock all of my windows and still can't."  
He asked them some more questions, until Alison's parents arrived. They were rather worried than angry and she had to answer more questions.

Aria, Spencer, Hanna and their parents had to come to the station too and were interrogated. It was late at night when they finally got to go.

The girls were waiting outside for their parents finishing the formalities.

"What do you think will happen next?" asked Spencer, starring at the stars.

"I don't know. Wren will have a process." Alison answered.  
"Why don't you?"  
"They see him as responsible because he was the grown-up."  
"I'm afraid." Admitted Aria. "Of all these questions and A and just everything."  
Hanna wrapped one arm around her. "We all are."

"Have you checked your phones yet?" Asked Spencer.

"They took mine." Meant Alison.

Spencer grabbed her phone and checked it.

"And?"  
" _ **You stayed alive because you chose to play after my rules. No guarantee anymore, bitches. -A**_ "

"Of course, that was foreseeable." She added.

"It still frightening me." Meant Emily. Just then, the girl's parents walked out the building.

Spencer's mum was the first one to talk. "You should've told us but I think you all know that. The officer says if anything further is going to happen, you all are going to be under police protection wherever you are. At first they keep the change in the case secret, to protect you."  
"Thank you." Said Aria, blushing and added a "I'm sorry." Looking at her parents.

 **Aria:**

On their way home, the silence in the car was unbearable. Nobody knew what to say because the situation was more than just weird.

"Don't you trust us?" her mum asked, trying to understand her.

"I do and I love you, that's why I didn't tell you because I was afraid of that something could happen to you."  
"Why would a person do something alike to you? What have you done?"  
"I don't know, we have no idea who could be A. It just got worse and worse and we thought that keeping it secret was no option anymore."  
"That's right, you finally did the right thing. Keeping secrets never leads to good things, Aria. You know that."  
"I do."  
She was happy that her parents neither shouted at her nor blamed her for anything because that was the last thing, she needed right now.

 **Hanna:**

Her mum and she had been talking for hours and Hanna was really relieved when her mum finally decided to go to bed. She sat in the kitchen, an almost cold Latte in front of her as somebody knocked the door.

The first thought that came to her mind was A but the second was, since when did A knock? She still took a knife and hided it behind her back, as she risked a glance through the space between door frame and door.  
"Caleb?" she asked surprised. "What are you doing here?" Although she already knew the answer, she waited for him to say something and opened the door.

"I was worried because I knew where you have been."  
"How did you?"  
"Um." He mumbled. "You were talking to Emily and I heard it, when you left, I knew where you would go. I'm sorry."  
"You're the last one to apologize, it's me keeping things secret I wish you'd know. I'm happy you're here."  
Hanna closed the door carefully behind her, to not wake her mum up. They sat down outside on the stairs in front of the door and Caleb considered her from the side, when she started to talk.

"There's so much you don't know about me and I have to tell you because I want you to know me. Better. You probably know everything about Alison's disappearance, don't you?"  
He nodded his head, afraid of what would be next.

"You don't. She lied to the police because she wanted to protect us. Me. Somebody is after us and that for a long time. A person who texts us and knows all of our secrets."  
"What?"  
"I know it sounds weird but it's true." Hanna said and continued, in the next minutes she tried to explain everything to Caleb: The Jenna-thing, A, Alison's disappearance and what they had done at the police today.

As she had finished, all Caleb could hear was her loud and fast breath. He knew how difficult it must have been to tell him these things and he appreciated her being brave enough to do so. What he didn't know, was if he should be angry about her not having told him directly although he wasn't.

Hanna turned her head away from him, crying silently. Her voice was shaking, as she said:  
"You must think, I'm a horrible person because of what we did to Jenna and I always lied to you and…" her voice broke. "But I want you to know that I'm sorry. I regret having done it, I regret it so much."  
Caleb approached right up to her, carefully stroking her back. "I'd never think you're a horrible person because I know you aren't. Look at me."

Hanna kept her head where it was- turned away.

"Hanna." He said. "Look at me." She slowly turned her head. Her cheeks were covered with a mixture of tears and mascara, her eyes full of pain. Caleb gently took her face in both of his hands.

"I love you, Hanna Marin. All I could be angry about is you not telling me, what you're going through. But I'm not. I wanna be there for you as much as I can and I will if you want me to. The cops are gonna get this freak and all of this will be over."  
"Caleb." She whispered, her eyes filling with tears again.

"Don't cry." He responded just as quiet and leaned forward to kiss her soft and warm lips. He could feel that her face was wet but kept kissing her.  
"I love you too." She said, as they had finished. "More than I could ever tell you."

Caleb and Hanna kept sitting there for a while and watched the night sky, watched the clouds coming and going, watched the darkness disappearing and the sun rising.

* * *

 **Hey guys, I'm happy to finally have written the chapter in which the liars tell the truth. Hope you like it. DM me if you have any suggestions for upcoming chapters and also already the end of the story. I would really like to adjust the story to your wishes. :)**

 **xoxo**


	26. Hang on

The next weeks were even more trouble than the ones before because the girls knew that Wren's process would get started in some time. Especially Alison got more and more nervous the closer his process got. Although telling the truth was definitely the right thing to do, she felt guilty for him having to go through this.

One day before the process:

A twig hit Hanna's face, as she tried to fight her way through the woods. She could hear Aria's fast breath behind her, trying to run although it was not possible.

"What if we are too late?" asked Emily anxieous, running next to Alison.

"We can't be!" shouted Spencer but suddenly her voice broke and she pointed at a tree in front of them. Hanna couldn't see much at first but as she knelt down, she could.

"What's that?" she asked, although she already knew what it was. "Toes." Mumbled Spencer and ran towards the tree, faster than she had ever been running before.

Earlier:

 **Aria:**

"Hey Spence." Aria said, phoning her friend.

"Hey, what's up?"  
"Nothing particular, I just thought we could talk a little, we haven't had much time to do so lately."  
"Yes, of course. But if you are calling me, there's probably something, isn't it?"

"Okay, you're right, there's something. I've been shopping with my mum today and we were walking among this street and then I suddenly saw him."  
"Who?"  
"Ezra."  
"Oh, did your mum see him too?"  
"No, luckily, she didn't but it was so weird, you know? I mean, we looked at each other and he didn't show any reactions. It was as if… as if we had been strangers."  
"I don't know what to say, honestly. I guess he was afraid of your mum seeing him smile at you or whatever ad that's even kinda understandable."  
"I know, Spencer, I know but if it is supposed to be, why isn't it? Why doesn't he…"  
"If he really loved you and I thought he would, then you'll somehow find a way back to each other."  
"Maybe, you're right but it's been so long that we saw each other and I really didn't expect to see him alike. Like walking on the other street, passing me."

"Have you tried to call him or something?"  
"Not since the day he left because he didn't stand up for us, it was me having to do that and I feel like now it's his turn to do something."  
"I believe he will someday, maybe he needs some time."  
"Are you defending him right now?"  
"No, I'm not."  
"What are you then doing?"  
"I'm telling you that you should never give up on somebody you once loved more deeply than anybody else, Aria. I'm telling you to believe in him making the right choices."  
"Sorry, I shouldn't have questioned you being on a side, that was stupid."  
"Don't apologize, you're upset and that's okay."  
"Spencer?"  
"Yeah?"  
"What if him making the right choices means that what we had is over?"  
"I know I'm supposed to say that he won't but nobody knows what he'll do. You know him the best and I think all you can trust in him not having given up in you yet and that's why I said that. Because if you haven't, he probably has neither."  
"Thank you, I really needed that."

"No problem but can we just change the topic? There's something I also wanted to talk about."  
"Yes of course, go on."  
"You know what day it is, don't you?"  
"Um, yes. I do."  
"It's only three days left until Wren's process is gonna start."  
"I know, Spence. How are you feeling about it?"  
"I'm not sure. I somehow know that he deserves what he will get but the other part of me has kissed and even loved him once."  
"Will you watch the process?"  
"Yes, probably I will. My mum said it's possible that his court-appointed defense counsel will call us as a witness in the stand and we all should be there."  
"Mmh, right. I anyway thought about coming there because it affects us. How is Melissa with it?"  
"I guess okay, we were never that close like…"  
"Like what?"  
"Like talking about feelings and stuff."  
"You know that if you wanna talk about it, you can call me whenever."  
"I know, thank you."  
"Have you been talking to Alison or Emily lately?"  
"Not much, like at school sometimes. The cops told us, being close made it for A easier, that's why."  
"I miss hanging up with all of us together."

"We all do but maybe things will change when this fuckin' process is finally over."  
"I hope so. We'll see on Monday at school then?"  
"Yes, we'll. Bye:  
"Bye." Aria hung up sighing, she would have loved to talk to Spence face to face.

 **Emily:**

Although it was weekend, Emily had to do her homework and sat in front of her desk, busy with Russian history as her mum come in and sat down on the bed, obviously wanting to talk to her. Emily laid her pen down, expecting another telling-off but her mother wasn't angry or upset at all-on the contrary!

"I know you are busy and have much to do for school, Emmi but there is something I thought we should talk about."  
"Yes, of course."  
"So, the cops told you that it was better if y'all didn't spend much time together because that makes it easier for this A-person to hurt you."

"Mum, we really didn't meet in secret or anything, I promise we didn't."  
"Hey, just listen. I wasn't going to say that. Well, I thought about you spending all of your time either in here or at the practice and realized that you have literally no social contact within school since you're not hanging up with the girls anymore."  
"Yes, that's right, I don't have many other friends. Okay, I don't have any other friends."

"The cops said that you as a group of friends shouldn't see much but I think you should at least be allowed to see Alison because she is your girlfriend. I'm just thinking that it's unfair for the two of you to not be able to meet. In privacy."  
"Wait." Emily couldn't believe her ears. "Are you telling me I can go and see Ali?"  
"I do but under one condition: I trust you and therefor I want you to directly call me if something is going wrong."  
"I can't believe you're allowing me to see her, that's awesome, mum. Can I…can I go and see her right now?"  
"You can, Emmi but be here for dinner please and take care, promise me not to walk home in the dark alone, okay?"  
"Of course, I promise. I love you mum!" Emily said, leaving her room in a huge rush, grabbing her phone on her way downstairs to inform Alison about the great news. It took her only a couple of minutes to get to the DiLaurentis' house and she rang the doorbell.

"Emily." Alison said enthusiastically as she opened the door. "It's so awesome that we gotta meet again."  
Emily took the last few stairs in a jump and now stood in front of Alison. "You don't know how much I missed you." She said, hugging her.

"I do, so did I." Alison answered, holding her tight.

In the garden:

Emily and Alison had sat down in the garden, drinking some tea.

"How are you doing?" asked Emily, considering Ali from the side.

"I don't really know but I'm okay probably."  
"You look really tired. All sure you're okay?"  
"You're right, I haven't had much sleep lately but not only because of Wren. I just hope that when the process is finally over, times will get less rough."  
"They will." Meant Emily optimistic.

"Because it can't get worse?"  
"No, because we're strong enough to get through it. I know we are and we're gonna get this."

"That's why I love you so much."  
"Why?" asked Emily wondering.

"You're the only person I know that can give the worst situations a good sense. You always see the good in things, I admire that."  
"Aw." Emily mumbled blushing, not having expected that. "You're cute."  
"I'm just telling the truth." Alison said, kinda ironic and giggled.

Looking at Emily's hands that were holding the cup of tea tightly, Alison asked: "Hey, are you cold? We can also go inside."  
"A little but I'm fine."

Alison got closer to her and wrapped one arm around her wrist. "Better?"  
"Yes." Emily whispered, hiding her face in Alison's fluffy and warm pullover, feeling her heart beating under her.

"I can feel your heartbeat." She said.

"How is it?" Alison answered smiling.

"Fast."  
"Well, rosewood's prettiest girl is laying right on me, how else shall it be?"

Later:

 **Hanna:**

It was evening when five phones rang in five different houses. _Ding, ding._ Hanna was laying on Caleb's couch, watching him and Lucas play a computer game, as she received a message.

Somehow, she knew that something bad had happened, before she opened it and her feeling was right.  
Opening the message, she could feel a cold shudder on her back.

 _ **Somebody solved it, no further process needed. -A**_

Wondering what was meant, Hanna opened the attached files: She was shocked, when she looked at the picture: She saw somebody hanging in tree, a man. Wren. Hanna's breath stuck.  
Caleb turned around, having won the game but his smile soon turned into worry as he considered Hanna who sat on his couch, staring at her screen.

"Lucas?" he asked, apologizing.

"Yeah?"  
"Would you mind leaving us alone for a minute?"  
"No, of course not." He said, standing up and closed the door behind him. As soon as the door had snap shut, Caleb approached to Hanna.

"Another message?" he asked carefully, already knowing something bad must have happened.

Not saying anything, she kept pointing on her screen with her shivering finger.

"No." he mumbled apathetic, seeing the picture. "No, he can't be, he can't have…There's a location attached, we gotta…we gotta go there."  
Hanna leaned her head against the wall behind her. "What if this is a trap or something? What if…"  
"No matter what an asshole he is, maybe he's still alive and this is all a fake. We gotta go there."  
Hanna could feel her dry throat while speaking: "Let's go, we don't have any time. We can call the police if we know…know it for sure."

Hanna and Caleb ran out of the house, among a surprised Lucas and jumped into the car, driving away with speed. On their way there, Hanna called the other girls silmultaneous. All of them managed to get there and they met on a car park somewhere close to the woods because they couldn't reach the location by car.

Spencer leaded the group of six persons through the nowhere, running on the first position with her phone in one hand. They were about to give up as Spencer suddenly stopped which made Hanna almost crush into her:

"What's that?" she asked, although she already knew what it was. "Toes." Mumbled Spencer and ran towards the tree faster than she had ever been running before.

The others kept right behind her and they finally reached the tree, standing directly under a pair of mood-covered boots.

It was Caleb who climbed the tree and carefully sat down on the branch, crawling forward to the rope which was wrapped around Wren's neck.

"It's him." Said Caleb in a monotone voice. "No doll or something but…his heart isn't beating and he isn't breathing. He's…dead."

 **Emily:**

Emily's hand instinctive reached for Alison's and pulled her close to her. Alison's voice was shaking, as she whispered: "We were wrong with saying it couldn't get worse. It always can."

Aria turned away from the corpse, dangling over their heads. "I can't see this." She mumbled, sinking down on the dirty earth and hiding her face in her arms. Meanwhile Hanna helped Caleb to get down the tree and Spencer called the police, telling them that they had just found a corpse. But neither was it just any corpse nor were the circumstances of his death usual.

It was the corpse of the accused of murder in the first degree and it seemed as if he had decided to swing himself.

Had Wren taken the law into his own hand or was it A playing his games here? How far would A go? Would somebody take this game so far that they were playing with the death now? Again?

* * *

 **Hang on Wren ;) No, just kidding, hope you leave me a review and have a great week.  
xoxo**


	27. rEVOLution?

The dirt sprayed from the tires, as the police car speeded through the woods. Two officers jumped out and ran over to the girls and the one boy, they could already see from afar. What they also could see, was somebody hanging up there in the tree. To be honest, both had thought it would've been a misunderstanding or a stupid joke but it was obvious that it hadn't been.  
The younger of them had to take a deep breath, considering the corpse. Although he knew it was a person and it was real, it seemed so unreal. Maybe the fact _that_ it was a person hanging there made it unreal. A person. It was a life hanging in front of him.

 **Spencer:**

The officers came towards her after having had a first look on him. She didn't even want to say his name, not now that he was there in front of her. Not now that no matter how much she had hated him, part of her still remembered having kissed him. Having loved him, her first kiss. Her first crush was hanging there like some overripe fruit. Spencer turned away from him and forced herself to listen to the officer's questions, it was the same officer who had already interrogated them twice. _Reynold, Garret_ said the official identity card which was pinned to his flawless shirt like a trophy.

"I know you're done and whatever now but you have to listen and answer the questions as good as possible. It's very important."  
"It always is." Mumbled Spencer and added an audible "Okay, I will."  
"How did you find him?"  
"Um, we got a message which leaded us here."  
"Why didn't you call the police?"  
"We…We wanted to be sure first. Sure that he's dead."  
"I don't think I have to explain you that this is the police's job because you anyway knew that and wouldn't listen now. Next one: Did you identify him? Do you know him?"  
"Yes. Yes, I do know him." Better than I wish I would have known him, she thought. "His name is Wren, Wren Kingston. He is the guy whose process was about to start."  
The officer sighed, writing the name down. "In which relationship have you been with him?"  
"Why is that important?"  
"I'm the one asking questions."

"We haven't been in contact lately, I'm sorry I don't have any phone numbers of relatives you could call. Are we done here? So, can we leave?"  
"One last question and you can." He said, trying to seem understanding.

"Who was the person informing you about him being dead? This A-person?"  
"Yes, it was."  
"Okay, I don't know what our next steps are gonna be but you all can leave, at least you're done with answering questions. Tonight."  
Having written a couple of things down, he went over to taking pictures of the corpse. Meanwhile the other cop came over to Spencer.

"I don't know if that is what a cop has going to ask now because I'm quiet new in this job but are you okay?"  
"As good as can be expected under the circumstances." Spencer said, forcing herself to smile.

"Do y'all have an option to get home safe tonight?"  
"Yes, we got here by car."  
"I meant if you are okay with driving home? Like are you able to?"  
"We'll somehow manage to get home." Spencer said, kind of absentminded as the cop was asked to help Mr. Reynolds and hurried to get to the tree.

Spencer took a breath before she looked for the others, spotting Aria now not sitting anymore but leaning against a tree, starring into the nowhere. Emily and Alison were holding each other's hand, standing next to her, Hanna had cuddled up to Caleb who was keeping her close by wrapping his arm around her.

"I'm done answering the questions, we can go now." Spencer said, rather exhausted than angry that she had to do answer all of it on her own. It took some seconds, until everyone moved towards their cars that were waiting for them in the moonlight.

"Can I stay with you tonight?" Hanna asked quietly. "Of course, you can." Caleb said. "Get into the car, you needn't stand out here in the cold." Hanna would've discussed that now usually because she wasn't the person to do what she was told to but now she just did because she knew it was in her own interest.

"I've phoned my mum." Said Emily. "Ali can stay with us tonight. She isn't angry or something, I guess we'll be okay."

"All right then, you better get home now. We'll get home, I can give Aria a ride." Answered Spencer.

Aria and Spencer sat down in the car but didn't start driving immediately. "Aria?" Spencer asked, considering her friend.

"Yes?" She said, turning her head towards Spencer, her eyes were glassy, her cheeks shining red from the cold air in her pale face.  
"Where do you wanna sleep tonight?" she asked, not even wanting to know how Aria was doing because none of them was doing good right now.

"I don't know." She mumbled. "The only place I wanna be at is his apartment and I know I can't."  
"Call him. Right now." Spencer said, holding her phone out to her.

"What?" Aria asked confused, directly seeming less tired.

"I said just call him." She repeated herself.

"It's the middle of the night and we haven't been talking for half an infinity. That would be crazy. Not today."  
"Aria, there is nothing about your life that is not crazy and calling him will be the best decision you can make today."  
"Okay." She said, still not sure if it was but just dialed his number and surprisingly he picked up after only some seconds.

 **Aria:**

His voice was hoarse as he answered his phone. "Fitz?" he said, rather yawning than talking. Somehow now that she was hearing his voice, Aria couldn't bring out a loud.

"Hello?" he asked, listening to the breath that was audible.

"Ezra." She mumbled, not wanting him to hang up.

"Aria." He responded, directly recognizing her voice.  
"I know this is weird and probably totally crazy but can I come over and sleep at yours? Because I don't care what my parents are gonna say and I don't care what the people are gonna talk, all I want to, is be with you."  
He interrupted her empathetic and fast monologue. "I've been an idiot and I won't make the same mistake again."  
"What mistake?"  
"Not fighting for the things that are worth fighting for. I'm sorry, I'm incredibly sorry. I can't even express how much because I was such a jerk and I know it. I thought I would never hear your voice again, like this. Maybe you're right and it's crazy or foolish or both of it. But, where are you?"  
"In the woods but I'm on my way if you are okay with that."  
"Why am I not even wondering that you aren't laying on your couch? It is, just come over. It was overwhelming not to be able to see you, not to know what to do. Maybe it's wrong to meet you because it will hurt even more if your parents are forcing us to end it again but at least we have to try. I realized that."

"I'm coming." Aria whispered, not knowing what else to say although she had imagined this moment like a thousand of times and always had more than just one response to whatever he could have possibly said.

But now she hadn't, she had no response to him exactly saying what she had thought all the time she hadn't been able to be with him. She had no response because her head was so full that it was already empty again: Full of thoughts about him and Wren and A and Spencer and her parents. And the future.

Aria slowly removed the phone from her hear and hung up. Spencer who had heard everything she had said, did nothing but smile although it felt weird because she thought she shouldn't be smiling on a day they had just found a corpse. But that was what she did, she smiled.

"You were right." Aria said, not even watching her. "With saying it's gonna be okay somehow and with making me call him."  
"I always am." Spencer said sarcastic. "I was born to be right, just kidding."

When she turned into the street, it started to rain. Spencer could hear the raindrops drumming against the window as she stopped her car at the corner.

Aria considered her. "I'm so nervous believe me." She admitted.

"Get your ass out of that car, Ari." Spencer answered, looking at the house in front of them. "I guess he is waiting for you." She added, pointing at a person standing there in the rain.

"Thank you." Aria murmured, hugging her. "Are you gonna be okay?" she said, raising her eyebrows worried.

"I will." Spencer said, not wanting her to spend her night worrying about her. "Go now."

Aria nodded her head and unfasted her seat belt to stand up.

The door snap shut behind her as she got out of the car and stood there on the street, feeling the cold rain on her skin.

Spotting her, Ezra who was in front of his house walked towards her and so did she. They got faster the closer they got to each other and finally, the water around her boots was splashing when Aria ran among the empty street to him.

"Aria." He said as she stood there in front of him, soaked alike him, shivering but smiling.

"I missed you so much."

If it hadn't rained, maybe he would have seen her eyes getting wet as she tried to keep standing on her tiptoes. He carefully wrapped his arms around her back, feeling her t-shirt sticking on her and lifted her up a little, leaning forward and stroking her head. Looking right into her eyes, he gently kissed her and so did Aria.

She felt like the time had stopped when she stood there with him in the rain, on this street somewhere in rosewood.

The kiss was more intense than any they had ever had before. Neither did Aria feel the cold anymore, nor did she think of anything else than his lips touching hers. His soft, warm lips compressed the rain, the cold and the pain and this moment made one of the worst nights of her life, one of the best ones. Some moments can change everything and this one could.

* * *

 **Hope you like the Ezria reunion as much as I do. Please leave me some feedback by writing a review. I appreciate your ongoing support a lot, lot. Wren will live on in our heads ;) Have a good day and don't forget to smile.**

 **xoxo**


	28. gAme on

**Huhu, next chapter :) Don't forget reviewing. Am I the only one waiting for the endgameee?**

 **xoxo**

* * *

 **Spencer:**

The silence was literally overwhelming when Spencer stopped her car in front of the Hasting's house and the music turned off which made her feel uncomfortable because she directly had to think of Wren, not being busy with listening to music anymore.

Spencer still got out of her car, locked it with her remote control and entered the house which was already entirely dark, she had almost forgotten how late it was. Getting into her room quietly for another time, she lay down on her bed, not even removing her shoes from her feet.

One part of her thought about how lucky Aria could be that this day had turned into a good one but the other part couldn't stop remembering him hanging there in this tree. Spencer could see him in front of her when she closed her eyes for a couple of seconds which made her want to never have to go to sleep. She was tired and suffered from incredibly exhaustion but knew that she would fall into a restless sleep, leading to nothing but nightmares.

 **Hanna:**

On their way to Caleb's, Hanna almost fell asleep in the car although she usually didn't like driving and never would have. Leaning her head against the window, calmed her down and made her realize _how_ tired she was.

Considering his girlfriend from the side, Caleb let go of the steering wheel with one hand and reached for hers. She looked up, a smile hushing over her face. "I love you." He said, watching her eyes slowly closing.

Hanna had fallen asleep before she could answer and as they reached his aunt's house, Caleb got out of the car and opened the door, carrying Hanna into the house because he was happy that she had fallen asleep and didn't want her to wake up again. When he lay her down on his bed, she still moved a little and then opened her eyes. "Caleb?" she asked, not totally awake.

Laying down next to her, he wrapped one arm around Hanna and responded whispering: "Yes, I'm here, go back to sleep. It's okay."  
"Okay then." She murmured relieved like a little kid who just wanted to believe in the good and so he could hear her quietly snoring next to him after a couple of seconds.

It took him almost an hour of thinking about the day, until he also fell asleep.

The next day:

 **Emily:**

Waking up, Emily found herself laying next to Alison whose eyes were still closed. She carefully stood up without awakening her and walked over to the bathroom.

Seeing herself in the mirror, made Emily sigh: Her mascara was swiped all over her face and her eyes looked as if she hadn't slept at all. Emily splashed some cold water into her face and then went to the kitchen, where she prepared breakfast.

When she was almost done, Alison entered the kitchen yawning. "Hey, good morning." Emily said, happy to see her. "I didn't wanna wake you up."  
"You didn't." Ali answered smiling and hugged her. "You wouldn't have had to prepare breakfast, you're the guest."  
"I anyway couldn't have gone back to sleep, sit down." Emily responded, letting go of Alison.

While they were eating, the DiLaurentis telephone suddenly rang. "Who would call us that early in the morning?" she asked herself, standing up to answer it.

Emily followed her, wanting to listen.

"You're talking to Alison DiLaurentis."

"It's Garrett Reynolds here, the officer. Can I talk to your parents?"  
"Um, my parents?" Alison asked, raising her eyebrows. "No, they are at work now."  
"I'll call them there then."  
"What is it about?"  
"You all gotta come to the police headquarters, it's got first priority."  
"Now?"  
"Yes, please. Your friends are already on their way."  
"What is it about?" Alison repeated herself.

"Nothing to talk about on the phone." He said hanging up.

Emily who had listened to their whole conversation, had a worried impression on her face.

"It's gonna be okay." Alison said optimistic. "Let's go."  
They got into the car as fast as they could and Alison drove them to the police, stopping her car right in front of the building. They hopped of and entered it, holding each other's hands.

"There you are." The officer who was obviously responsible for the examinations, leaded them into a conference room or something, where the other girls and also their parents were already waiting for their arrival.

 **Aria:**

When they finally arrived, Emily sat down next to her. She looked just as tired as all of the others because she obviously hadn't slept well too.

"Hey." Aria whispered, trying to move her lips as few as possible.

"Hey." Emily responded. "Do you have any idea of what is going on here? What did we do?"  
"We weren't told why we were asked to come here yet."  
Just then, the officer entered the room, closing the door behind him: "All of you are probably informed about Wren Kingston being dead, aren't you?"  
Everyone nodded, the girls had told their parents.

"So, we do think it was suicide as a kind of self-judgement or because he was afraid of having to go to prison."  
"Isn't that obvious?" asked Spencer's mum.

"Usually, it would have been but figuring the fact that some unknown person named A is involved in everything that is connected to you, it is not. We have to wait for the autopsy report until we can say it for sure."  
"Wait." Emily said. "Are you thinking that A killed him and made it look as if he had killed himself?"

"We don't have any clues yet but we do think that it might be possible and have to take it into consideration."

Spencer's mum sighed: "Means what?"  
"The girls safety is most important for all of us, I guess. We, the police, decided to let them be under police protection because after the latest changes, nobody knows what A is capable of."  
Aria, Hanna, Emily, Spencer and Alison considered each other, silently thinking about what it would mean for them. Police protection.

"Um, you mean they are in danger?" Ella Montgomery asked.

"Of course they are. If it wasn't suicide, they clearly are." He said. "We cannot guarantee for their safety unless we take care of them which means you allowing us to do so."

"I mean if it's necessary, I will agree." Ashley Marin meant.

"MUM!" said Hanna, not wanting to be watched the entire day.

"So will I." added Aria's mum.

In the end, all of their parents agreed with it wanting to make sure that their children were safe. When they drove back home, Aria could see a cop's car following them as she turned around.

"Mum?"

"Yes, darling?"  
"They aren't gonna be in front of our house all day, are they?"  
"Yes they are, you'll have to get used to that- I'm sorry but otherwise I'm concerned about you all the time."  
"You needn't be."  
"Aria." Ella said sighing. "You're my daughter and as your mum I do have to be. All I want to is make sure that you are safe."  
"Okay, I…I understand that." Aria said, not wanting to argue with her mum because she was too tired.

"Where have you been yesterday?"  
"I told you that I slept at Hanna's."  
"I mean where have you _really_ been?"

Aria blushed, staring out of the window to not let her mum see it.  
"Okay, honestly I already know where you have been." Her mother continued.

"Why are you not shouting at me then?"  
"Maybe I should." Ella said, taking a deep breath. "But I just think you're almost an adult and we should respect your decisions. Forcing you to break with him, didn't lead into anything but you being sad and that's the last thing I would have wanted to achieve."  
"Are you saying we are allowed to see again?"  
"Probably that's what I'm saying." She answered while a smile hushed over her face.

"Aw, mum." Aria said speechless. "This made my day, believe me."

"But." Her mother interrupted her. "You have to promise me that I'm not going to be grandma before your graduation."  
"MUM." Aria mumbled blushing again. "Of course not."

When they entered the house and Aria went upstairs, her phone suddenly rang. Expecting it to be Ezra, Aria reached for it to see a message appearing on her screen.

 _ **Cop outside doesn't mean I'm not in, gAme on bitches. We all know who wins. -A**_


	29. Wanna make a deal?

**This story is about to make a big change and I'm soo incredibly excited to share the last few chapters with you guys. I'm working on them right now and hope, hope, hope you like them. Have fun and let me know who you think is A. The reveal is about to be published. Be patient...**

 **xoxo**

* * *

It's been some weeks...  
 **Spencer:**

When Spencer woke up early in the morning, the sun hadn't risen yet. She stood up yawning and although it was that early, she could see the cop's car in her parking lot- as always it was standing there and considering it, Spencer reminded herself of how long it had taken her to get used to it.

She felt and also was watched all the time, each of her movements.

Of course, it was annoying and she kinda felt like thrown back to her childhood but couldn't change it. Anyway, she knew that it would be irresponsible not to agree with them having a look on her and the others.

At least A was somewhere out there, maybe not even far away from her. Maybe the cop out there wasn't the only person watching her right now.

 **Hanna:**

The traffic light already seemed to be red for half an infinity and Caleb's fingers were nervously drumming on the steering wheel.

"What's wrong?" she asked, reaching for his hand.

"Nothing, I'm fine. Just didn't sleep much."  
Hanna hadn't slept much as well, not for any specific reason but because the cops didn't give her the feeling of safety. She rather felt in danger which was why they stood there. She couldn't really remember the last night in which she hadn't had any nightmares.

The worst about it was probably that she didn't know when it would finally be over because whenever they thought it was, one of them received another message. And another. And another.

How could somebody invest so much energy in driving them crazy? Well, at least she had to admit that it kinda worked out. She didn't know what to do if nothing changed. It had to.

"How are you? You look tired too." Caleb said as if he had read her mind. Hanna said nothing but just nodded. She was tired and done.

All of this was so exhausting. There were only a couple of days left till graduation and she could think of nothing but A. She wasn't even happy when nothing bad happened because she then knew that there was something worse waiting for them. When Hanna had been in seventh grade, her biggest problem were her braces and later her weight. She would have never thought that she would get through all of it but probably you're always stronger than you think you are.

"Any new messages?" Caleb asked, breaking the silence.

"No, not yet." She mumbled.

"Why are you such absentminded then?"  
"If there aren't any messages, I'm always thinking that something worse is gonna happen. They are still not sure if A killed Wren and I'm just asking myself, what could be worse."  
"Worse than what?"  
"Dying."

Caleb took a deep breath, not having a response at first. She wasn't even sure if she wanted him to answer but he did:

"Maybe he also killed himself and A just used it to scare you. Sometimes people like the idea of dying because feelings can be overwhelming. Sadness can be and pain can be too. There is a point when everyone feels too much of it and maybe Wren just did."  
"Is that what A wants us to feel?"  
"I don't know, Han." He said, staring at the street in front of them. "I don't know what makes somebody do things alike and why."  
"I just want it to be over, I wanna graduate and life a fuckin' normal life. Normality is such underrated."  
"I love you because you're not normal."  
"Because some freak is after me?"  
"No that's not what I meant."  
"What did you mean then?"  
"I love you because you don't give up and appreciate the good things in life. That's why."  
Turning his head to her, he considered her ocean blue eyes and kissed her, holding her head in his hands.

 **Emily:**

Standing in front of the curtain, Emily was really curious to finally see Alison wearing her dress, the dress she would wear at graduation. Emily had already chosen hers and was now sitting in front of the cabin.

Suddenly the curtain moved and Alison stepped out. The dress was dark green and perfectly matching with the tone of her eyes. Her flowing blonde hair was covering her shoulders and all Emily could think was wow.

"What do you think?" Alison asked insecure. "You don't like it, do you?"

"I love it, Ali. It's perfect." Emily said, staring at her.

"Really?"  
"Yes. There would be nothing better to wear." Emily stepped towards her, reaching for her hands. "Although you would be beautiful in anything."

Alison gently kissed her forehead. "You're cute." She whispered, turning around to the cabin.

"I wish you could just keep wearing it." Emily said through the almost closed curtain.

 **Aria:**

Laying on Ezra's bed, Aria was checking her Instagram feed as he entered the room with a cup in each hand. "Wanna have some coffee?" he asked and she grabbed it, wrapping her hands around the cup.

"It's so cold outside." She said, considering the foggy rain she could see through his window. "Hopefully it will be better when we get our certificates."  
He nodded his head. "I hope so too. Are you nervous because of it?"  
"I'm probably supposed to be but there are other things that rather scare me."

"I know."  
"I'm just thinking what's the aim? Why does A do this, what is it A wants to reach?"  
"I wish I knew, Aria."

Aria leaned her head against his shoulder as he wrapped one arm around her. "I always thought it would be over some when, now that we are about to graduate. We should be making plans and not waste the time we have thinking about A. I just don't want A to control my live, our lives, all the time."  
"Plans?" he asked.

"Yeah. Like moving together or something." She said, considering him kinda insecure.

"That would be great, we should have talked about that earlier but we hadn't any time, had we?"  
"Now we have."  
"Yes, now we have."  
Thinking about what their flat would look like and listening to his calm voice, Aria closed her eyes and could literally see them in front of her. It was the first time that she saw something after all of this. There had to be a time after A.

Later that day:

 **Spencer:**

Hanging up on the couch, Spencer flicked through a book she was re-reading. Suddenly she heard a knock and as she raised her head, she looked right into Toby's face that was pressed against the door's window.

Spencer jumped up and opened the door, smiling brightly. "Hey." She said, kissing him gently. "You don't even know how happy I'm to see you."

"Wanna go for a walk?" he asked. "The sun is about to dawn."  
"Yes, I'd love to." Spencer answered. "I just gotta go and tell this officer that I'm leaving with you."  
He nodded, already kinda used to the weird circumstances.

When they finally got to leave, Spencer grabbed his hand. "How is it going?"

"It's really good at the moment, I'm getting well paid by the man whose roof I'm currently working on and there is something else."  
"What?"

"The day after tomorrow, Spence, the day after tomorrow."  
"Hey, that's unfair. You can't drop a hint and then just remain silence."

"I'm sorry but it's a surprise."  
"Wait, just one further question. Is that the reason for you always being busy in the past weeks?"  
"Mmh."

"Oh, I wanna know what it is."  
"You have to wait, you're getting to see it when you have received your certificate."

"I'm looking forward on it, believe me."

"Yeah, you should be." He said smiling.

They had already walked among the emptying streets for some time and although it was getting cold, they kept going because all Spencer wanted to, was make the best out of this moment. Every moment she could spend with Toby let her forget everything else. The cops. Wren. A.  
But A was still there.

Somewhere in a dark room:

The only light thing in the room was the persons face, lightened by the bright screens in front of her. A knew they were feeling safe with the cops. But they weren't, just as long as A wanted them to be. It was A's game and it would be A finishing and winning it.

A sick smile hushed over the person's face as she grabbed a phone and typed some words.  
 **cAtch me if u can, bitches. wAnna make a deAl? -A**  
Send.

Thinking of how they would be afraid, reading it, the person felt satisfied. It was still its game and they were the dolls. Still-after all this time.


	30. 2 minutes left

**Hey guys, I have been busy with school and stuff lately which kinda distracted me from writing but here is the next chapter. Hope you enjoy reading it:)**

* * *

16 hours earlier:

 **Spencer:**

"Toby." She said, stopping abruptly. "That was my phone's ringtone."  
He was just as nervous as she was when she grabbed her phone and unlocked it. Secretly he still hoped it would be something normal: Her mum reminding her of an appointment at the dentist, her sister wanting her to call her back. Whatever. But it wasn't and he knew that right in the second Spencer raised her eyebrows worriedly.  
"Catch me if you can, bitches. Wanna make a deal?"

"Ugh." Toby sighed, not knowing if he was happy or desperate about the new kind of message. "What deal? Hurt somebody and I'll give you my gender, kill somebody and you'll get my eye color additionally?"  
"I don't know, Toby. I don't even know how we're supposed to respond."  
"You needn't respond because you're not gonna make a deal with your greatest enemy who is crazy and dangerous and for sure wants to improve his but not your situation!"

Spencer didn't say anything, she couldn't because she didn't want to lie to him and had to talk to the others at first.

Later:

 **Hanna:**

Alison, Emily, Aria and Spencer were relaxing on Spencer's bed, while Hanna was walking up and down, considering the cop's car in front of the house.

"Guys." Aria said, breaking the silence. "I'm not getting that. What does A want us to do? You can hardly make a deal if only one side can communicate."  
Hanna didn't say anything; her throat was way too dry.

"I don't think that only A can communicate, even though we cannot text back." Spencer mentioned.

"Huh?" Emily asked, not getting what Spencer was trying to tell them.

"It's kinda complicate and also creepy if you really think about it but A is somehow watching us all the time. We can communicate with A."  
"How?" Aria wondered.

"Either A is listening to our conversations, watching us or both."  
Spencer's thoughts made Hanna shudder although it was very warm in the room. She instinctive looked around, as if A would have hang a sign and she could directly see how A got the information on them.

"I would leave a piece of paper somewhere." Spencer meant.  
"With what on it?" Alison interrupted.

"What kind of deal?" Spencer suggested and so they did.

They wrote a note and on her way back home, Emily placed it on the pedestrian crossing like some lame piece of paper that some person had lost there. But it wasn't. Trying to keep calm, Emily's fingers were still shaking when she left the paper there and she felt relieved, as she finally sat back in the car and could drive home.

The thought of being alone out there with A, was the last thing she wanted to think about today.

Stopping in front of her house, Emily kept sitting in the car for a while to phone Alison. Waiting for her to answer the call, Emily considered the metallic doors of the cops car shining in the moon light.

"Em?" Alison asked directly, picking up.

"Hey." Emily said. "I just wanted to talk to you."  
"Did you place the note?"  
"I did."  
"I wish we could have somehow waited there and watched A pick it."  
"So do I but it's dark and A would anyway have realized that we were trying to trick him."  
"Him?"  
"Or her, whatever."  
"Are you okay?" Alison asked.

"Yes, I am. Why do you ask?"  
"Um, your voice is a little shaky."  
"Well, I'm still kind of nervous, I guess. I didn't know what would happen when I placed the note. What if A had followed me?"  
"You're right. But you didn't hear anything, did you?"  
"No, luckily, I didn't. Believe me, I was so happy when I finally sat in my car and could leave."

"I don't even know if I really want a response."  
"What do you mean?"

"If we receive a message." Alison answered. "That means A watched you and knew what you were going to do."  
"Mmh."  
"And, I'm honestly also afraid of what this deal could be. A isn't somebody to cooperate with us, this person won't stop hurting us."  
"I understand you, Ali. We all don't know what is gonna happen next and I'm creeped out too. Are you alone tonight?"  
"No, my mum is here, downstairs in the living room."  
"Okay, then. I just thought letting you sleep alone would have been a stupid idea."  
"You're sweet, Em. I love you."  
"Love you too, sleep well."

Emily hung up, locked her car and entered the house. Her mother was obviously asleep because all of the lights were already turned off. Emily quietly walked upstairs and closed the door behind her so that she wouldn't wake up.

Although she was tired, Emily couldn't sleep. Her thoughts were circling around A, the deal, the note and A again. There had to be a way to finally end it. Emily failed in keeping her eyes open at about three in the morning and really regretted that when her alarm got on only four hours later.

 **Aria:**

Usually, Aria hesitated to check her phone in the morning. Not because she wasn't interested in what her friends had posted but because she knew that her day would be ruined if it started with a new A-message. Today was different.

When Aria's alarm turned on and she stood up, her hand automatically reached for her phone. She wanted to know if Spencer's assumption had been right and A was always close enough to them so that they could communicate. Her finger still stopped millimeters from the screen, rather out of habit than fear.

 **Have got something belonging to u, wAnna have it bAck? -A**

Opening the attached file, Aria already expected the worst. A video. Of them. Them at the day Jenna lost her ability to see, at the cemetery digging a corpse, Aria kissing Ezra in a classroom, Spencer throwing in some pills. Shit. Aria sighed, that's what was meant with a deal.

Either you do what I'm telling you or you're gonna be in huge trouble. How did A even get all these videos? Did this A even watch them before Alison disappeared?  
No matter how A got all these videos, they would affect problems over problems and not only for them. Also for Ezra.  
Right in this moment, her phone rang and Aria picked up to hear Spencer's upset voice.

"Aria! Have you seen the video?"  
"I have, I just have." She answered still kinda confused and distracted. "Why would A ask us if we wanted to have it back?"  
"That's a rhetorical question. "  
"I don't get what you're saying."

"Listen, by asking us, whatever happens next is our decision. I f we agree or not, get it? Although it isn't a real question because we have no opportunity but agree, A makes us feel as if we had a choice."  
"Uh, yeah. I'm getting it. Makes us responsible, doesn't it?"

"At least it makes us feel alike."  
"But, Spencer, what makes A ask?"  
"The only thing I can figure is that we have something A needs."  
"What would that be?"  
"I have literally no idea but it must be something important."

"Um." Aria sighed. "I just got another message."  
"Read it out."  
" _ **Tomorrow lost woods resort. 23:00 pm. Come alone or the vid is no longer only at my pc. -A**_ "

"We are so not gonna go there. We don't even know what our part of the deal is, Aria. That would be crazy."

"Of course, we won't."

16 hours later:

 **Emily:**

"Can I?" Caleb asked, holding the first of five small chips in one and a needle in the other hand. Emily nodded her head, knowing that she had to.  
"Okay, I'm counting down. Three…two…one." Right I this second, she could feel the pain in her neck and then some blood running down. It was warm.

"Ouch." She mumbled.

"I'm sorry." Caleb said apologetic. Ezra who was leaning against the window, considered Emily who was now pressing a handkerchief against her bleeding neck.  
"Next one." He said, pointing at Alison.

The girls had decided to meet A, not because they wanted to but because it might be the unique chance to reveal A's identity.

When Caleb and Ezra heard about their idea of walking through the woods in the middle of the night without any further companion and to meet a crazy driven person, they had figured out a plan: Because they weren't sure if A was tracking the girl's phones or manipulating their GPS signal, Caleb had chosen to take some small chips that were sending their current location to his pc and insert them into their necks.

Of course, none of the girls was thrilled of being pricked with a needle but they also knew that it would really improve their safety which was important.

"Okay, done." Caleb said, just having inserted Hanna's chip. "By the way, where is Toby?"  
"On his way here. He had to finish some project." Spencer said.

The mysterious project he had wanted to show her at the day of graduation but couldn't because he hadn't been finished. Spencer was really curious about seeing the result but also knew that she had to be patient.

Anyway, the graduation day was weird because they were escorted by some civil police man.

Not what you imagine it to be like. Well, what of her life had she imagined to be alike? She was a Hasting's and supposed to study directly after graduation but what was she doing? Hunting some freak with a GPS tracker in her neck.

7 hours later:

 **Aria:**

While Caleb was installing the audio record of the girl's small talk to not make the police man search for them, Ezra and Aria had a minute for themselves. They were standing in the floor, his arm wrapped around her neck.

"It's gonna be okay somehow, babe." He whispered trying to calm her down although he was just as nervous.

"I'm afraid." Aria answered cuddling up to him.

"I know." Ezra said. "Just pay attention."  
"I will."

Ezra took her head in both of his hands kissing her gently, he was worried. Worried that something could happen to her.

"I love you." He said looking straight into her eyes.

"Love you too." They hugged for a last time and ten returned to the room, where everything was already prepared.

"We're ready." Spencer said, seeing them enter the room.

"I don't know if I am." Aria admitted.

"But I do." Spencer smiled. "Time to leave."  
Caleb watched them leave the room, sitting on Hanna's bed with his laptop on his knees. The small red points on his screen were moving.

"It works." He said to Ezra. Right in this moment, Toby came in, obviously breathless.

"Fuck." He meant. "I'm too late."

"Nice to see you too." Ezra answered, not even looking up from the screen.

 **Emily:**

She was sitting next to Spencer who was the best driver out of the five and now driving Hanna's car. At least usually. They had just passed the second red traffic light and were now driving among an abandoned forest path.

None of them was talking as they saw the lost wood's resort's commercial appearing in front of them: It's red letters were lightening the surroundings but all Emily could spot were trees and trees and trees. Okay, then there was the building of course but no car, no persons.

What had she expected? A standing there waiting for them?

Spencer stopped the car close to the resort and now that she had turned the engine off, the silence was overwhelming.

"What time is it?" Hanna asked, looking around.

"We have five minutes left." Spencer answered, glancing at her watch, her fingers nervously drumming on the steering wheel.

Emily's hand instinctively reached for Alison's while they were sitting in the car in the middle of the night. It was cold and kinda sweaty but Emily didn't care, instead of letting go of it, she kept holding Alison's hand even tighter.

The fact that Alison was sitting behind Emily made it kinda hard to hold hands because they were pretty much stuck between their seats and the doors. It didn't matter, not for them. Not tonight.

All that mattered was feeling her fingers on her skin and knowing that Alison was there. She was there and they were gonna be okay, that's what Emily kept telling herself all the time.

It was gonna be okay. Somehow.

 _Two minutes left._


	31. Made a cAtch?

**Finally the reveal of A's identity! Don't forget to review please :)**

 **xoxo**

* * *

 **Aria:**

"A is so not gonna show up here guys, this is a trap and made us look like the dumbest girls in town. Probably A asked us to come here but still send the police the vid." Aria said, as the smallest sandwiched between Hanna and Alison.

"We've got one-minute left." Spencer answered pragmatic.  
"I can't see anybody." Emily admitted, trying to interpret the shadows around the car.

"Thirty seconds." Spencer mumbled, sweat pearling down her forehead. She was just as nervous as everybody else in the car.

"Maybe A is just a little late or something." Hanna meant, rather naïve than really convinced of what she was saying.

Alison sighed. "A is not somebody to be late. I'm sure A is already here."  
Almost not audible, Spencer counted down. "Three…Two...One…"  
"You know me better than anybody else DiLaurentis." A hoarse voice coming out of the trunk answered. "I am here."

Aria could barely suppress a scream, just pressing her hands against her mouth kept her quiet. There weren't five persons in this car, there were six. A was in here. Just behind her back.

Spencer was the fastest to react: Her hands reached for the door release handles but when she pushed, all they could here was a klick. _Klick._

The voice from the trunk again: "Did you really think I was gonna leave the doors open so you could go for a midnight walk? I'm not making this kind of mistakes. I'm no beginner."

They were caught in this car with A – the person who had been after them for half an infinity. The only thing in between them was the seat. Aria could feel her breath getting faster, more and more irregular.

She was trying to control herself, her fears. She was trying to calm herself down to figure an escape but she couldn't. All that came to her mind was that she could be dead in a couple of seconds, just like Ali, Emily, Hanna and Spencer.

 **Caleb:**

"Does your system somehow doesn't work or is it the Wi-Fi?" Ezra asked, realizing that the points on the screen had kept in their position for almost ten minutes.

Caleb was getting nervous, he had already checked the connection twice, restarted his server, actualized his browser- no changes. "That's nothing about my system. They are really not moving."  
"What does that mean?" Toby meant dense.

"Either A got the thing with the GPS and… removed them, what is pretty improbable."  
"Or?" Ezra wanted him to continue.

"Um…or they are still in the car. Look at how they are positioned: Three in the back, two in the front. Something must have gone wrong, otherwise they would have moved."  
Ezra punched the wall in anger. "We were so stupid to let them go." He almost shouted.

"That's not the right time to blame anybody, we gotta do something. Now." Toby interrupted him.

"What are we gonna do?" he continued.

"Get there as fast as somehow possible and meanwhile tell the police. Oh, we can also tell the officer in front of the house."

Having had a last look on the screen, the three left in a rush, running downstairs.

 **Hanna:**

It seemed to happen all at once. She heard an incredible fast movement out of the trunk, a hand holding something reached over the seats and Hanna simultaneous started to feel dizzy. Hanna still heard the sound of a spraying bottle and perceived a sweet smell.

She knew that she was gonna lose it and A kept spraying. Hanna slowly turned her head to the window and caught her breath, she didn't know how long she would be able to hold it. As a kid, she was really good in catching her breath, she remembered battling with the other girls and winning. It was the only thing she was ever gonna beat Spencer in, now she could use it.

The sound stopped. Silence. Somebody climbing out of the trunk. Hanna felt weight on her legs.

She tried not to think about A just sitting on her leg. Touching her. Now A was opening the door on Hanna's side and getting out of the car. Hanna couldn't remember having ever appreciated fresh air as much as in this second. She carefully started to breathe again, forcing herself not to gasp for air.

Hanna could hear steps, walking away from the car and then a voice talking on the phone.

"Where are you?"

"What something went wrong and they are on their way here? They think you're a cop, do your fuckin job!"  
"Yes, I drugged them. It's gonna last at least twenty minutes."  
Being still a little dazed made it harder to listen but although she wasn't on her highest, Hanna heard more than just a talk. It was the voice, she somehow knew it. A man talking to an officer playing for the wrong side. A wasn't alone. Hanna was and she still didn't manage to remember the person belonging to this voice.

She knew she hadn't much time to do something, probably A was gonna take them away from here. But what was she gonna do? Against a man?

 **Ezra:**

They had told the cop to get to the lost woods resort as fast as possible, told him that the girls were in a huge danger and then left to drive there.  
"Something is wrong." Ezra said, breaking the silence.

"What?"  
"The silence." He realized. "Why don't we hear any sirens?"  
Caleb raised his eyebrows worried, not having thought about that yet. Ezra was right, it was quiet and he only had one explanation for that. He had a look in rear mirror and saw a car's lights far behind them.  
Caleb speeded up, driving faster than he had ever driven before. "There is a car behind us." He explained. "There must be something wrong with that cop we talked to."  
"What?" Ezra asked, not wanting to believe it.

"He is right." Toby interrupted. "No sirens, no cops. He must somehow be involved in this A-thing, maybe A knew what we were gonna do. Maybe we are too late."  
"Not yet." Caleb meant, seeing the car at the other end of the street getting a little closer. "We gotta be there before whoever is driving behind us."  
Taking out his phone, Ezra dialed 911.

"You're talking to the rosewood police department. What is the reason for your call?" a fem said, picking up.

"My name is Ezra Fitz and I'm calling for the A subject. Are you responsible for this?"  
"I'm gonna handle you to my colleague, Linda Tanner, she is leading this case."  
"Tanner?"  
"Ezra Fitz here. The girls left the house to hunt A on their own, we thought they'd be safe because we could track their GPS. They are at the lost woods resort but something must have gone wrong, their location isn't changing. Plus, the cop in front of Hanna's house is probably not what he made us think he is."  
"Are you serious?"  
"I'm serious, we are on our way there and this guy is only one minute behind us. Please get there as fast as anyway possible!"  
"We're on our way but please don't play heroes. That's not your thing to do, we have to guarantee for all of your safety."  
"Thank you."

Ezra hung up when they were just driving into the woods, Toby and Caleb had heard their conversation.

"I'm just hoping we're not too late." Toby sighed.

"What's our plan?" Ezra asked, ignoring Toby.

"We don't have a plan." Caleb sighed. "We're gonna stop the car over there and then turn the corner by feet to not make it any easier for A than it anyway is.

 **Hanna:**

She carefully opened one eye and saw a completely black dressed person, his face covered with a hoodie and a surgical mask. He was standing next to the car, obviously waiting for someone to appear.

Right then, Hanna heard doors snap shutting- someone was gonna come. The police man who wasn't one? A reached into his hoodie, pulling something out that made Hanna realize that her situation had just developed as even worse.

She could see the metal of a gun in A's hand shining in the moonlight.

Hanna didn't know who she expected to turn the corner but the persons turning it were the last ones she had expected to: Caleb, Toby and Ezra.

But she wasn't the only one to spot them, A saw them too and so they found themselves in front of a gun pointing at them.

"No movement." The person, now standing with her back turned to Hanna, said.  
Hanna knew it was risky and crazy but everything in her mind was Caleb and A and the gun pointed at him, ready to shoot. A would shoot when necessary.

Hanna slowly sat up, A was only half a meter ahead from her, still busy keeping the guys where they were. She jumped up fast, silmultaneous slamming the gun out of A's surprised hands and pushing him forward.

The gun was laying on the ground, not wanting A to get it, Hanna kicked it towards the guys but it was none of them grabbing it. A man, appearing from behind them, overtook them and got it.

"Mr. Reynolds!" Hanna said relieved, the police officer made her feel safe.

"Hanna!" Caleb shouted. "He is no police officer, he is on A's side!"

No. This simply couldn't be true but it proved as now that the gun was pointed at them again.

"What do you want?" Hanna screamed at him, while A grabbed her hard and kept holding her to not let her move.

Reynolds kept pointing the gun at them. "Revenge!"

"For what? What makes you seek revenge on me? I didn't do anything."  
"You did!" he answered angry.

"You don't owe her any explanations!" A said, trying to keep him quiet.

Reynolds started to slowly walk towards her, the gun straight to her head, he was only a couple of meters away.

"I have been dating Jenna Marshall for years and kept our relationship secret to not be suspected of being involved!"  
"Stop." A interrupted him, they were obviously not following the same plan anymore.

"You and your friends ruined her life and you deserved everything you got. I'm here to finish what we begun!"

It took her some seconds to realize what he had just said. He was doing this because he was dating Jenna? Finish what they had started? Finish her? Kill her.

"Why me?" she asked, trying to save time.

"No matter who of you, the others will be hurt and Alison will feel responsible for your death!"  
"Garrett!" A shouted at him. "This is primary about Alison and not finishing her!"  
A sick smile hushed over Reynolds face while he got a little closer. "It's me holding the gun and not you, you lost the control."  
Why would A defend her? In this second, Caleb's and her eyes crossed and she realized what she hadn't been able to all the time. She knew who was holding her and so did Caleb, his eyes considered the person holding his girlfriend full of disappointment.

Almost not audible, Hanna whispered. "Lucas."

She could feel the hands moving, moved by his guilty conscience that was still hidden somewhere.

"That is not you." She continued whispering although it was hard to do so. "You can still stop this."

Reynolds kept getting closer to them, his gun was just an arm length ahead of her.

"Let go of her." He told him. "Say your prayer, Marin."  
Everything that happened then, was even more confusing. Hanna heard an explosion but the one of two gunshots fired at almost the same time.

While she fell down, Lucas arms still around her, she could also see Reynolds sinking down in front of her, his stomach covered with blood. Blood, much blood and then, everything turned black.


	32. gAme over

**Spencer:**

She slowly moved her eye which felt like the hardest movement she had ever made.

Spencer finally got to open them but all of the surroundings were just vague outlines, completely blurred.

Her head was throbbing but she forced herself to get a clear view. There were some beds next to hers, white blankets. White walls. White flowers. Everything was white in here, white and clean.

It took her dazed mind some seconds to conclude where she was- in a hospital. Spencer made an attempt of sitting up and had an overlook.  
"Emily?" she mumbled, finally getting focused.

"Spence." Her voice was just a shaky and slow as Spencer's.

Spencer leaned back, trying to remember what brought her here. Them. The last thing she could remember was the car in the woods and the voice out of the trunk, something spraying through the car. A. Spray bottle.

"Are you okay?" Emily's voice still seemed far away.

Spencer said nothing but sighed. She wasn't okay at all but what made her rather worry was A.

"What about A?" her lips formed the sentence themselves.

"I don't remember anything farer than somebody spraying chloroform or anything around."

"Alison?" Emily asked turning her head to the bed behind Spencer's to consider her pale girlfriend.

"I'm here too." Aria's tiny voice from the bed next to Alison's. They were all here. But where was Hanna?

A nurse entered the room, realizing that all of them were awake. "Hey." She said kind of strict. "Why didn't you let us know that you woke up? Mrs. Tanner is waiting outside and would really have to talk to you."  
"It would also be in your interest, I think." She added and although Spencer still felt like a mashed potato, she agreed with Tanner coming to talk to them. So did the others.

The woman walked in only a couple of seconds after the nurse had left. Spencer had already seen her and remembered her being one of the main persons to interrogate them.

"I see all of you woke up. How is it doing?"  
"Okay." Spencer answered, the others nodding in agreement.

"Well, I'm quite sure you don't remember anything of what happened after you being drugged by A because you did not wake up till now."  
"You're right." Aria responded, obviously curious about what they would get to hear.

"This will probably be difficult to understand but I'll do my best to explain what happened. Not all of you passed out in the car because Hanna was sitting at the window and caught her breath before she lost it and so stayed awake. Your boyfriends were worried about your location not changing and drove here meanwhile."  
"Are they okay? Is Hanna okay?" Aria interrupted anxious.

"Don't worry." Tanner said and continued. "The boys informed the officer we had positioned in front of your house before driving here which developed as a problem. He was not what he made it seem."  
"Means?" Spencer asked.

"Means he was involved in the case but still cooperating with A. He probably informed him about your boyfriend's arrival. On their way there, they called me because they luckily realized that something with the cop must have been wrong since they didn't hear any sirens.

When they arrived, A pointed a gun at them which Hanna who still sat in the car kicked away but the guys didn't get it because Garrett Reynolds came from behind and got it.

Now, he pointed it at Hanna who A was holding back. They weren't of the same opinion on who to shoot and who to let go but Reynolds had the gun and got closer to Hanna."  
Spencer watched the others, seeing Aria nail biting while listening.

"Well, my colleagues and I arrived silmultaneous and I had no other option but fir at Reynolds who was about to shoot Hanna. Unfortunately, he also fired his gun but because he fell down, nobody within him got hurt. The shoot hit his chest and he died on the way to the hospital."  
"Why?" Emily asked. "Why did he help A?"  
"He was in a relationship that lead to him seeking revenge on any of you. We were informed that he was dating Jenna Marshall who told us about the real circumstances of her going blind."  
Nobody in the room was believing what they had just been told and as well, nobody was talking. The police knew about them somehow being responsible for Jenna's blindness.

"Who…" Spencer continued. "Who is A?"

 **Emily:**

Her eyes were sticking on Tanner's lips, she was about to reveal the person's identity, they had been wondering about forever since it started.

Emily was super nervous; her breath was irregular and her hands were cold and sweaty. Although her mind hadn't really worked out the meaning of Tanner's past explanations, she couldn't wait any further.

"Okay." Tanner kept talking, more tense than ever before. "We took A into custody, means you're safe now. You're free of A. I figure that telling you who A is, is kinda difficult because you know him. "

Her mind was on fire, people spinning through it.

"His name is Lucas. Lucas Gottesman." That was all she said, nothing else-no explanations.

The boy, a friend of Caleb, a classmate. Somebody who saw them every day. Every fuckin day. He did it, everything that had happened to them was his fault. It was over, Lucas was in jail. A was in jail.

"Why?" Spencer shook her head, not believing her ears.

"He told us he would have started to text you because he was being bullied by Alison. The more he got into it, the more it developed to almost be an addiction. We believe he suffered from some sort of mental illness, he'll see a psychiatrist in jail."  
"How does Hanna feel?" Emily suddenly said, realizing that she was the one having spent time with him as Caleb's girlfriend.

"Lucas pulling her down with him, probably saved her life. The shot, Reynolds fired, hit a tree right behind them. She is as good as can be expected under these circumstances but waiting over there with your families and also the guys."  
"Can we see her?" Spencer asked.

"But only for some minutes, I think you better have some sleep later. The oxygen loss affects tiredness."  
 **Hanna:**

How long could this door still be locked? She had been waiting for half an infinity, her head leaning on Caleb's shoulder. The past few hours had been incredibly exhausting, not only physically but she would not be able to sleep until she had seen the girls. Talked to them.

Finally, the door opened and Tanner gave her the okay to enter.

"Hey guys." Hanna said, considering their faces, each of them paler than another. The first thing Emily recognized were her puffy red eyes, she had been crying.

"It's over." Emily mumbled in response, watching Hanna's eyes fill with tears again.

"Yes." She whispered, suppressing the tears. "It's over."

"Game over,A." Spencer added, already smiling again.

* * *

 **Hey guys,**

 **This was sorta a chapter inbetween two main acts but I'm gonna post a new one really soon. Thinking about writing some scene in the court room and of course a time jump to the girl's future. Hope you like that?**

 **DM me or review if you have ideas, please!**

 **xoxo**


	33. Proposal

The courtroom was empty, nobody sitting in the rows of chairs within five persons, five girls. The judge in front had just finished reading out their names: DiLaurentis, Fields, Hastings, Marin, Montgomery.  
All of them knew why they were here, of course they did. Only a couple of weeks had passed since A's apprehension. Lucas apprehension.

 **Aria:**

If one of the girls had had a closer look, they would have seen the paper shake in her hands. She kept reading her own words, although she completely knew what the paper was saying. Aria was nervous and trying to take her mind off.

Her name was the last one in the alphabet, she would be the last one to make her statement.

Just like the others, Aria had spent the past weeks trying to go back to normal which didn't prove as easy considering the fact that she wasn't used to normality in any point of view.

Still, she had managed to write several applications for universities and finally found the time to start writing again. All of them were getting along with things, sometimes better, sometimes worse.

Aria reminded herself to concentrate. Concentrate on Alison making her statement.

"I know what I would have told you some years ago. That none of what happened was my fault because it is easy to say that as the victim. I'm not only the victim because my behavior also had a huge impact on other people's lives and was probably also one of the points to get Lucas started.

I'm not trying to justify anything of what he did because I don't think any of his actions can be justified."

She kept talking but Aria's thought drifted away. She was well prepared on talking here but still nervous. Emily and Spencer somehow kept calm and did it how Aria had them expected to. Well.

It was Hanna's turn now.

"You have read our court records and I know that you know exactly what happened, so I don't really know what you expect me to say. He made our lives a nightmare and now he is in jail, that's where he belongs. He did hurt us more, than I like to admit. Not only in a physical way but what he mostly took was take things away from us."  
"Precise what you mean."  
"Safety."

She sat there in front of the judge, asking herself what it would need to make her leave now. Not much. Not much at all.

"The reports you read have probably told you anything you would have to know to get this case. The point is that even I don't although I was one of the persons haunted by A. I think I should be relieved because A is in jail but I never figured how A was a living person.

Lucas can never return the things he took, childhood, time, safety and I personally know that nothing is ever gonna be alike it was before we started to receive messages. He might me sick but that doesn't change anything of his behavior's effect on not only our lives."

Aria finished her statement, considering the judge whose facial expression hadn't changed throughout the whole time: The woman kept sitting there, her hands folded and listening but that was her job.

Later:

When they finally got to leave, Aria was feeling something else than relief. Now that their part in this process was over, she knew that they would all have time to fulfill their dreams. To live. That also meant going to different places, making new friends. They stood there in front of the grey-white building in a small park and considered each other.

"I wanted to tell you this anyway." Spencer said, breaking the silence. "I yesterday got a writing from Princeton, the university I've been applying to. They took me."

"Congratulations!" Aria answered, smiling because she was glad for her but her eyes filling with tears because she knew what that meant.

Emily was going to study at a university close to rosewood, like Alison and Hanna had applied for an apprenticeship as a designer. They all had plans.

Aria turned her head to Hanna, seeing her shoulders shake a little.

"Han." She mumbled, wrapping one arm around her.

"It's just that…" she meant in between two sobs, "We all know that this is somehow the end of something and I never thought we would have an end."

Even Spencer was crying now. "That's what growing up means. Being ready to say goodbye." She whispered.

"I'm not." Aria answered. "I'm so gonna miss you."  
"No matter what we say now." Emily interrupted. "Nothing is ever gonna be alike. We all together will never be alike."  
"We will all have different lives." Alison added, sadly.

And there they stood in the park, surrounded by people picnicking and walking their dog, and cried. Aria had never really thought about the future but now she was standing there with her friends and all of them were beautiful and grown up and looking forward on their future. Still, she knew that she was never gonna have this sort of friends again. Never again.

 **Spencer:**

The woman in the rear mirror had puffy eyes from crying but was smiling. Spencer didn't swipe the mascara away because she didn't care. She was on her way home and nobody would get to see her alike because her parents and Melissa were on a trip to their grandparents.

When she arrived at home, she locked her car and walked among the already empty and barely lightened street to her house. She was just entering their entrance, as a person stepped out of the dark. She instinctively stepped back but then recognized the shadow as Toby.

"Toby!" she shouted, running into his open arms.

"I didn't mean to frighten you, I'm sorry." He whispered, holding her tight.

"What are you doing here? Why didn't you tell me you would come?"

"Because I've got a surprise for you." He answered, reaching for her hand. "We gotta leave again."  
Spencer followed him, not asking where they would go. They got in Toby's car and he started to drive. He considered her from the side, seeing her face in the light now, Toby raised his eyebrows worried.

"Hey." He said. "Have you been crying because of the process?"  
"Um, no. Don't worry, it went pretty much well. We just got a little sensible afterwards."  
"Okay then." Toby responded, gently stroking her hand.

"Where are we going?"  
"It's some minutes left. You better close your eyes now."  
"Okay." Spencer said agreeing and kept her eyes closed. Some minutes later she felt the car slowly stopping.

Toby opened her door and helped her to get into a standing position, leading her forward. They walked for only few meters, until he stopped her.

"We are there." He said and she could hear the nervousness in his voice.

Spencer opened her eyes but couldn't believe what she saw right in front of them.

"Toby…" she mumbled. "What's that?"  
"You know that I was very busy in the past months, that's why. After work I always went here, also on the weekends and built this. Jason DiLaurentis helped me. I know you didn't expect that when I told you I had a surprise for you but I wanted to use my qualifications for something. I love you with all my heart, Spencer and all I want to, is be with you. Live with you."

"I don't know what to say." Spencer answered, speechless.

"This house is so beautiful, it's what we have always been dreaming of for our future. It's perfect, Toby." She wrapped her arms around Toby and kissed him thankful. "I love you." She added.

"So do I." he responded.

 **Hanna:**

During all the trouble of the process and them realizing that they had so few time left together, Hanna had almost forgotten that she was gonna meet Caleb today's evening. He had suggested to meet at his place and she was really happy about that because she wanted to see him now.

Turning right, Hanna drove into his street and stopped in front of his house.  
He opened the door after only a couple of seconds.

"Hey." He said enthusiastically and stepped out to hug her. She kept holding him tight, cuddling up to his soft pullover.  
"I so wanted to see you." She murmured, making him kiss her forehead in response.

"Come in." Caleb meant and closed the door behind them.

Entering the dark living room, Hanna wondered about him not having lightened his flat. Hwy would he leave it dark? The answer came faster than she had it expected to when Caleb turned the light on and she found herself in front of a perfectly laid dinner table.

"Aw." She whispered overwhelmed, not knowing what to say. "That's so kind."  
"I hoped you would say that." Caleb answered happily and they sat down there to have dinner.

He had spent all day cooking and made his aunt freak out because he messed up the entire kitchen but it had been worth it.

When they had both eaten up, Caleb considered her.  
"What?" she asked. "Is there something in my face?"  
"No." he responded laughing. "Your face is perfectly fine. It's just that you're so beautiful."  
She blushed.

"There's something I gotta do." He continued talking and stood up, reaching for her hand and pulling her up too.

"Remember when I asked you if you wanted to be my girlfriend? It was probably the most unromantic thing to do in that situation. I mean, we were playing truth or dare, you were shivering from cold and I asked you that question but somehow you still said yes. I don't know if you know that you made me the luckiest man on earth that day, well now you do. What I actually wanna say is that I have thought about something in a while, just never brought up the courage to ask you.

You loved me when I was just a weirdo who hit you with a door on his first day and you loved me when I was so stupid to let you hunt a psychopath. I don't know what I did to deserve you in any point of view but here you are. With me.

I love you with all my heart and I've loved you from the moment I saw you. If I can say one thing for sure, then it's that I'm never gonna stop loving you. So now I'm really asking that one question that was in my head for so long."

He paused for a while knelling down in front of her and pulling a ring out of his pocket. "Hanna Marin, will you marry me?"

Her eyes were filled with tears that were now running down her blushed cheeks. She covered her face with her hands and took a deep breath.

Hanna's voice was shaky from crying when she opened her mouth and said:

* * *

 **Well, guys. I had to keep it in suspense so this chapter ends with an open ending. I have almost finished the last one, I just gotta overread it again. The next chapter is mainly gonna be about them in three years from now. It made me kinda sad to write that because it'll be the ending of this story.  
**

 **I'm wanting to write a new one afterwards, focusing on one couple. It needn't be a constellation which is in the original series. I hope you have ideas?**

 **xoxo**


	34. Three years later

**This is the story's last chapter and I really hope you're pleased with the ending. I tried to give each of the couples a future and I think that somehow worked out. Please review and let me know what you think about the whole story.**

 **As I already said, I need some suggestions for my next one: Which ship should it be mostly about?**

 **Thank you for supporting me writing this here, it was lots of fun.:)**

 **xoxo**

* * *

He paused for a while knelling down in front of her and pulling a ring out of his pocket. "Hanna Marin, will you marry me?"

Her eyes were filled with tears that were now running down her blushed cheeks. She covered her face with her hands and took a deep breath.

Hanna's voice was shaky from crying when she opened her mouth and said:

"Oh, Caleb. Of course. Of course I want to." Crying and simultaneously laughing, Hanna hugged Caleb more enthusiastically than ever before.

Holding her in his arms, he could feel her body shaking. "Han." He mumbled. "I don't want you to cry, please don't. You're gonna make me cry too and this is supposed to be a happy day."

"I'm sorry, it's just that I hadn't expected you to…to propose to me."  
He kept holding her and when Caleb slowly let go of her, he swiped her tears away before kissing her gently.

"That's what I want it to be like forever." He whispered into her ear.

 **Three years later:**

 **Aria**

Aria's feet were nervously drumming on the floor but she was completely focused on the screen in front of her. Although the sun was dawning already, the screen still lightened her face while her fingers were typing.

Aria was about to finish the epilogue of her very first book that was going to be published in the near future.

As Ezra entered the room, wearing his pajama pants, she didn't even look up, distracted from forming the right, last sentence. She had been working on this book for such a long time and now that she was about to finally finish it, Ezra couldn't do anything but support her in what she was doing.

Only a few months after her graduation, they had decided on moving together and while he had continued writing for himself and working as a teacher, Aria had turned her hobby into her job.

Of course, she didn't just work on this book full-time but had rented a small bookstore across the street where she was selling novels, biographies, tragedies and everything her customers could possibly imagine.

At first, both had been concerned about the book store being a good investment but it had developed to be running very well.

Going over to making coffee, within Aria was busy re-reading what she had written, Ezra glanced out of the window. It had been a warm, almost hot, summer day and the red colored sky was very beautiful. Down there, on the street, he saw some cars passing by. Probably business men in them, finally having teared themselves off from their work and now on their way to their families.

The sound of the coffee machine, pointing out that the coffee was done, brought him back into their kitchen. Grabbing the two cups, he slowly walked into the living room to not spill anything on the carpet.

When he was putting one of the cups next to Aria, she was just closing her laptop, yawning.

"I'm done, Ezra. It's finished." She said. Although she was obviously tired and could barely keep her eyes open, they were shining enthusiastically.

"Congrats, Aria. I can't believe you having finished it, that's so…I can't even tell you how proud I'm." He stroked her hand, kissing her cheek.

Wrapping her hands around the cup, she took a sip but sat the cup back down then.

"Is it still hot?" Ezra asked wondering why she wouldn't continue drinking. She had really made the impression to need some caffeine.

"Um, no it's not that hot. You won't burn your mouth by drinking it."

"Why are you not drinking then? You looked kinda disgusted when you had just a small sip."

"Mmh." She mumbled. "Maybe I'm not in the coffee mood, I really don't have appetite. I'm just tired, that's it."

"Okay then. You have really been working a lot lately, especially today. Maybe the best thing to do is get some sleep, right? I think you could need some rest."  
"You're right probably." Aria meant standing up to get ready for bed.

When Ezra was closing the curtains, Aria had already cuddled up in her fluffy blanket, waiting for him to lay down next to her. Although she was tired and exhausted from the past weeks, Aria didn't sleep well that night. It was past midnight when she finally fell asleep.

Waking up, Aria felt much worse than yesterday's evening- her lack of appetite had turned into nausea. Aria turned her head to Ezra who was still asleep as it was weekend and not even 7am. Knowing that she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep again, she slowly stood up, quite enough to not wake him up, left the room and closed the door behind her.

As Aria had just walked a few meters, she was overwhelmed by a very bad wave of nausea and had to cover her mouth with her hand to get to the bathroom in time. Clenching the toilet bowl with her head hung low, Aria had to vomit two times in a row.

Just in this moment, Ezra came in, awakened by the sound of her retching. Not saying anything, he knelt down behind her, pulling her messy her back and gently stroking her back with his other hand.

When Aria was done, her head sank down on the white porcelain.

"Hey." He whispered. "What happened?"  
"Ugh." She muttered. "I was feeling a little nauseous waking up and stood up because I couldn't go back to sleep again. I didn't want to wake you up but when I was on my way to the living room, I suddenly got sick."  
"Are you gonna get sick again?"  
"I didn't eat much yesterday, so my stomach is probably empty."

Carefully helping her get in a standing position, Ezra pulled Aria up. "Do you feel like you're able to walk?"  
Wanting to be brave, Aria nodded her head but when she started to walk again, Ezra had to prevent her from not falling down. He shaky legs and the fact that she had just thrown up, didn't really combine well.

Ezra slowly reached down and lifted her up to carry her to the living room, where he lay her down on the couch. Aria smiled at him done but thankful as he handled her a glass of water.

"Did you eat something expired? I didn't know the flu was going around."  
"Not that I remember to. At least I didn't eat or drink anything last evening." Re-thinking the past time, Ezra suddenly raised his eyebrows worriedly.

"What?" she wondered.

"it's just that." He started to talk.

"That?"  
"That something came to my mind which is really improbably but remember when he hadn't any condoms and did it without because we were too lazy to go to the drugstore?"  
If there had been any color left in Aria's anyway pale face, it was gone by the moment he finished his sentence. She did remember that evening, of course she did.

"Have you…have you been on your period lately?" he continued asking.

Now that he mentioned it, Aria realized that what Ezra was saying wasn't even that improbably.

"I haven't had it for less than two months but my period isn't always regular."

"You've just thrown up." He added.

Aria nodded her head, asking herself why she hadn't thought about that.

She had some rest until Ezra walked her into the bathroom and she pulled a pregnancy test out of the small paper box.

Her hands were shaky as she waited for the result and he was just as tense, leaning on the wall.

It didn't take long for the test to show some reaction. Considering the instruction again, Aria looked at the test and back at the instruction. Back at the test.

The first line appeared but was followed by a second one. Two lines. Pregnant. Ezra didn't even have to ask for the result but could read it in her face.

"Ezra." She mumbled. "I'm pregnant." He nodded his head, not sure if either to celebrate or question why they hadn't been more carefully. She was pregnant, from him. They were gonna have a baby. He would be a father. A smile hushed over his face. A dad.

 **Emily** **:**

Emily was driving their car among the still empty streets early this morning. Alison, next to her, had fallen asleep, her head leaning against the window that was steamed by her breath.

They were on their way to Spencer's, wanting to spend some time together. Suddenly her phone rang in her pocket which made Emily pull it out as fast as possible to keep Alison asleep. Answering it without reading the name on the screen, keeping her voice down she said:  
"Hey, it's Emily."

"Em?" Aria's voice sounded gross.

"What's wrong?" She asked directly realizing that something had to be wrong: At first, it was very early in the morning and secondly, she knew Aria long enough to recognize that something had happened.

"I…I know that's awkward to tell you on the phone and way too early or I should have waited till lunch to tell you but I have to talk to somebody about it know."  
"About what, Aria? Stop making me worry, just say it straight out."  
"I'm pregnant."

The words came out of her mouth fast and not having expected that, Emily's foot instinctively hit the brake pedal which made their car stop abruptly on the middle of the street and Alison wake up.

"That's wonderful, it's so wonderful, Aria! You two wanted to, didn't you?"  
"Of course but honestly this came rather out of sudden."  
"How did you realize?"  
"Um, I…I vomited after standing up and Ezra said some things that made me do a test which was positive."  
"Aw, you poor. How are you doing?"  
"I'm okay, actually. A little sick but okay. It just feels kinda weird to know that there is something developing in my stomach. A baby."  
Emily smiled bright, thinking of how it would look like.

"Believe me, it's even harder to wait for seeing you in some hours now. I'm so glad for you. You are happy, aren't you?"  
"Well, at first, it was a shock but yes, we are. We definitely want that baby."  
"Oh, that's good then. See you, I'm driving as fast as I can."  
"Hey, not too fast. Keep safe, see you."  
Hanging up, Emily felt Alison glancing at her from the side.

"I'm so sorry for waking you up, babe." She said apologizing. "Aria had some unexpected news. She is gonna have a baby."

 **Spencer**

Now that she had finished her law exams for this semester, even Spencer Hastings could relax and was now looking forward on seeing her friends again. Hanna had already arrived and while Toby showed Caleb the changes in their garden, Spencer and Hanna sat in the kitchen drinking some coffee.

"How have your exams been?" Spencer asked, putting a spoon into her cup.

"Um, I don't know. Okay, I guess. Fashion is totally my thing." Hanna said smiling a completely honest smile.

"Mine too."  
"I needn't ask to know that, Spence." Hanna meant boxing her.

"When will the others show up?" Hanna continued talking while cleaning her wedding ring with her blouse.

"It won't take long for them to arrive, I guess."

"It always feels weird to see us all with our partners and the lives we've built up, I mean I'd never even imagined becoming something. Somebody." Hanna said.

"Well, I thought we'd drift away from each other because we all have our own lives now and new friends and stuff but I wasn't right this time. You'll always be part of my live, no matter what is going to happen."  
"I sometimes imagine me telling our stories to out grandkids." Hanna added smiling absentminded.

"That's what I meant. It's a story to tell. Not mine but ours."

Spencer said and was interrupted by the bell, hearing the voices of Emily, Alison and Aria in front of the door.

And as she opened it, there they stood arm in arm.

Five independent and grown-up young women.


End file.
